Baltimore

The trip to Baltimore was wondrous.

The girls--Morgan, Emma and Tegan--are so grown up. Morgan and Emma are almost as tall as me and you can have really grown up conversations with them.

Tegan is still a little bit a little girl. Josh and Cathy's friend, John, brought some very mild fireworks to dinner and one of them that spun around and shot off lots of sparks, scared Tegan horribly. She cried and cried--something I haven't heard her do for a long time. By the end, she was holding sparklers and not freaking out.

And they are all so beautiful. (I know I'm prejudiced, but the truth is, and Bern agrees, they all have the most beautiful skin you can imagine. Not a blemish or acne mark to be seen.) I love them profoundly.

Josh and Cathy are doing so well that I could weep with joy. Josh is the youngest partner in his large law firm (mostly because since he does a lot of bankruptcy and taxes his section kept the firm solvent during the recession.) And Cathy will be installed as a judge for Baltimore City in September. Her Taiwanese family is so proud that they are taking Josh and Cathy and the girls to Taiwan for Christmas to give offerings of thanks to the ancestors.

They live in the Mount Washington neighborhood of Baltimore--Baltimore is a city of distinct neighborhoods. (Two people I know who grew up in Baltimore both told me Mount Washington was their favorite neighborhood.) Mount Washington is the only hilly part of the city and looks like a Connecticut suburb. A very mixed neighborhood--million dollar houses next to simple ranch houses--and a fair amount of ethnic mix as well.

The 4th of July parade in Mount Washington came right by Josh and Cathy's house. It was four or five vintage cars, a woman on stilts dressed as Uncle Sam, a bagpiper and lots of the neighbors on foot on on bikes. A real neighborhood parade. We didn't even try to go see the fireworks over the harbor, knowing it would be a nightmare to park and walk.

They used to live in Canton, right on the harbor, and we once watched the fireworks over Fort McHenry from their upstairs windows.

The drive down was just over 5 hours with three stops. The drive back was a little longer because of the inexplicable slow downs of the Merritt Parkway. We once made the 280 miles in 4 hours and 15 minutes--but just once.

Something to pray about

I get so caught up in what's going on here in the US that I ignore most everything else.

But not the kids in that cave in Thailand.

It seems miraculous that they lived 9 days cut off from the world by water.

And even more miraculous that they were found and given food and water and light. (Imagine 9 days in darkness--what a miracle light would be.

But now, with the oxygen level in the air they are breathing nearing a dangerous low and one diver losing his life trying to take them oxygen and no way to drill down a mile to them and a jungle hiding any back entrance to the cave and the need to be underwater for a long time to escape--now, previous miracles aside, a major miracle is needed to keep the world (and their families) from watching them die.

Something to take my mind off the lies and nonsense from our president.

Something to make me pray about.

Hold those kids and their coach in you heart and soul.

Try to imagine--no, don't!!!--how he feels about leading them there.

A life and death drama on 24/7 TV.

Pray. And ponder the fragile nature of life....

What I call Justice

Back from Baltimore--great 4th (more later)--wondrous Josh and Cathy--too amazing three growing girls.

The best news I've heard since getting home (besides Scott Pruitt's resignation) is that a group of poachers broke into a wild animal preserve in South Africa and were killed by lions.

The poachers were armed with all the things need to kill rhinos and take their horns. But a pride of lions had other ideas for them.

South African officials aren't quite sure how many poachers their were--they haven't be able to determine how many remains the lions left.

This is what I call the triumph of Nature over Assholes.

Bless you lions. Keep your eyes open and protect those rhinos always.

Justice prevails.

Please support all those trying to protect endangered species and animals in general.

It was their planet once--before us--we need to make sure they are safe.

We need to be lions bringing justice to the wildness of the earth.

Going to Baltimore

We're leaving in the morning for Baltimore to celebrate the 4th of July with Josh/Cathy and the growing up too fast Bradley girls.

Given Fort McHenry and all that, Baltimore probably goes all out for the 4th. I'll let you know.

Having Eleanor in our life makes me miss the 'little girls' we used to see on holidays and in Baltimore. Morgan and Emma are on the verge of puberty and Tegan is much bigger than I want her to be.

But they are wonders--each of them in different ways. Morgan is sly and insightful. Emma is ebullient and excited. Tegan is social and secretive at the same time.

And Josh is flesh of my flesh and Cathy is the flesh they chose to share with each other.

Pinch myself every time I have to hear stories--deep and heart-breaking and profound--about children that have struggled, gone off the rails, been lost.

We lucked out in all that in a big way--and I mean 'luck' like "Grace" since I can't see how we deserved to have two such children and such great son and daughter in law and four granddaughters.

We didn't 'earn' it--they are, pure and simple, GIFTS.

And we get to see 5 of the 8 of them tomorrow.

Cahoo, Cahey!!!

I'll check in with you on Friday.

Shalom and Happy 4th!

July 1 sermon--Emmanuel, Killingworth

Mark 5:21-43
5:21 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea.

5:22 Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet

5:23 and begged him repeatedly, "My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live."

5:24 So he went with him. And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him.

5:25 Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years.

5:26 She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse.

5:27 She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak,

5:28 for she said, "If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well."

5:29 Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.

5:30 Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my clothes?"

5:31 And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, 'Who touched me?'"

5:32 He looked all around to see who had done it.

5:33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth.

5:34 He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease."

5:35 While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader's house to say, "Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?"

5:36 But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, "Do not fear, only believe."

5:37 He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James.

5:38 When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly.

5:39 When he had entered, he said to them, "Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping."

5:40 And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was.

5:41 He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha cum," which means, "Little girl, get up!"

5:42 And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement.

5:43 He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

 

Mark's gospel uses the word "immediately" more than it is found in the rest of the Bible. Mark's gospel is moving fast and furious. In fact, so fast that today there is a story inside a story.

 

The synagogue leader, Jarius, came to beg Jesus to heal his dying daughter.

 

The major story is about Jarius' daughter--but in the middle of the immediacy of that, a woman who has been  plagued by bleeding and lost everything--including her money to physicians--and she believed if she could only touch Jesus' cloak--only that---she would be healed.

 

And she did and she was.

 

And Jesus said "who touched me?" because he felt his power go out of him.

 

Of course, given the crowd, no one could know, but the woman came forward to confess it was her. Jesus told her that her faith made her whole and blessed her.

By then folks from Jarius' house told them his daughter had died and not to trouble the Teacher more. But Jesus takes his three most trusted disciples--Peter, James and John--and goes to Jarius' house.

He is met by people weeping and wailing and when he told them the girl was 'just sleeping', they laughed, as upset as they were.

Then Jesus went into the girl and said to her, "Talitha cum", Arimaic for "Little girl, get up", and the child did get up, dead as she had been.

(An aside, I wanted to name our daughter "Talitha" but Bern put the stop to that immediately!)

One of the things God confounds us with is that we believe dead things must stay dead.

But Jesus says, "no" and resurrects the little girl. In God's mind, dead things don't have to stay dead. Jesus resurrected only two other people in the gospels--the son of the widow of Nain and, of course, Lazarus.

But Jesus tells us dead things don't have to stay dead.

Dead relationships, dead thoughts, dead emotions, dead hopes, dead longings--they don't have to stay dead, God tells us.

I've felt the need for healing for a while--a long while. When children can be separated from their families and all interred  and a perfectly good family can be denied a meal in a restaurant, both remind us of horrible historic events--Japanese Americans interred during the Second World War and African-Americans being denied meals.

I heard someone say on radio, "Civility is dead". It seems that way. But, God tells us dead things don't have to stay dead.

We have become Tribal in this country. I know of families who can't eat together on holidays because of the political differences.

We need to find healing to our community. We must find a way to heal our differences and become "one nation" again. 

We need to be healed and touch each other in spite of our differences.

That's why as soon as I stop talking, I invite you to come forward for anointing and prayers for healing. Garnet will help me.

We must be healed so we might heal the divisions and pain in our nation and world.

I invite you to come forward for a prayer of healing and anointment.

Now.

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Killing flies

I believe absolutely in the sanctity of all life. Believe absolutely.

From time to time, I struggle with the fact that I eat meat and fish. I remind myself that I could survive on shell-fish and scallops and other things that don't have faces...but I'm weak and love a good steak or cod loin.

But I can guarantee you if I had to kill the creature to eat it, I never would. I didn't eat chicken until I was an adult because I watched my grandmother twist their heads off and let them run around sprouting blood.

However, I contradict myself now--I am obsessed with killing flies.

I once said to Ross Collins Owens III, when he accused me in Divinity Hall at Harvard of 'contradicting myself'--"Do I contradict myself? Very well, I contradict myself. I am large, I contain multitudes."

Col was amazed. "That's great," he said.

"It's Walt Whitman," I replied.

"Who?" Col asked. He had a BA from Harvard. I had a BA from West Virginia University. Suddenly I no longer felt diminished in his presence....

I can't stand flies.

Bern can't either.

We have half-a-dozen fly swatters all over the house. Sometimes we spend half-an-hour prowling around downstairs with fly swatters with the commitment to slaughter as many flies as we can.

I would never hurt a spider unless I knew it was poisonous and was on one of my granddaughters.

I even put stink bugs outside when I find one inside.

But flies are different.

Even as I type this I hear Bern downstairs with a fly swatter. I pray for her accuracy.

My second cousin, Kim, was walking with me one day. She was 4 or so and I was a teen at least.

Suddenly she pulled her hand away and ran over to some ants on the sidewalk and started stomping on them.

When she finished, she came back, took my hand and said, "they were going to hurt Kimmy".

That's the way I feel about flies.

That, if nothing else, keeps me from being a Buddhist.

Just when I thought...

Just when I thought, "things can't get much worse", Justice Kennedy retired.

This gives our President a chance to change a Supreme Court that was unpredictable into one that is predictably conservative.

Kennedy wasn't a liberal, by any means. He was pretty conservative about most things but was often the 'swing vote' on human rights issues.

He sided with the four liberal justices on abortion issues, voting rights issues, racial issues, GLBTQ issues--things that make the President's BASE crazy.

So, he will try to force through someone to please 33% of the populace 'all the time'. Kennedy often pleased conservatives but on some things that matter profoundly to me, he pleased me.

I do not believe for a moment that the President is hard-right on the issues I mentioned above. In fact, I  don't think he fits on the political spectrum at all--depends on what day it is.

But those hard-core voters that support him no matter what he does, they want abortion and gay marriage and immigration handled with an iron fist.

With this Supreme Court seat, the president can give them what they want.

And since the Senate blocked Obama from nominating a replacement for Justice Scalia, this opening, along with the first Supreme Court nomination will make "5-4" to the right a permanent thing.

Hopefully the 49 Democrats and Independents can hold the appointment off until November and win enough Senate seats to block anyone who isn't at least open-minded like Kennedy.

(It's a terrible place to be: "Well, things can't get much worse"--until they do....)