Long day

Sunday is a long day for me.

Most days I don't get up until 9.

Sundays I have to be at Trinity, Milton, 35 or so minutes away by 9:30. So I set the alarm on my phone.

Tomorrow I have to get up early to go get a blood test.

Tuesday I have my zoom group at 9:45 and then I go to Milton to talk with whoever shows up--a couple of people said they would.

Wednesday, thankfully I can sleep in!

I can't remember when I started sleeping so late--but I'm glad I do. Many people my age have trouble sleeping, but not me.

And I have wondrous--if confusing--dreams, usually after I get up at 6:30 or so. At least that shows my age.

I haven't worked 10 hours a week for over a year. I was sending half my pay back during the pandemic.

So, I have to get used to two days a week of actually 'doing something'.

I hope I will.

I love that little church in Milton--though I wish there was more diversity there.

The three churches I served full-time weren't like that. St. James in Charleston, WV, was a black church. St. Paul's in New Haven had about 1/3 blacks. St. John's in Waterbury had a huge West Indian membership and so many Hispanics we had a Spanish priest to do their service.

Milton is, how can I say it?  White as white can be.

But I love them already though I'm not a month into being their priest.

When I took my 7 year job at the Middlesex Area Cluster Ministry--three little churches--the bishop asked me how it was.

"Bishop," I told him, "I'm not used to being around so many white people."

Each church had one Black person--but two of them were the church musicians!

I thank God every day that I had the experience of inter-racial worship.

 

 

My sermon for Sunday

 (If you go to Trinity, Milton, do not read this!!!)

JULY 18, 2021

          I want to begin with a digression into the Lectionary.

          If you turn to page 888 in the Book of Common Prayer, you will encounter the lectionary for the Eucharist. It’s a three year cycle: Year A, Year B and Year C.

          The years change on the first Sunday of Advent each year. We are in Year B. The lectionary should tell you what the lessons we should read for the 8^th Sunday of Pentecost—BUT THEY WON’T.

          The Lectionary has been revised since the Prayer book was printed, so the one in the Prayer Book is useless.

          Also, in the revision each year was given a Track 1 and a Track 2. You’ll notice on your reading insert that we are using Track 1. The only way to know for sure what the readings are in the go on line and look.

          The people who prepare the lectionary are Biblical Scholars. But sometimes I don’t know what they’re doing!

          One example of my being mystified is in today’s gospel. You’ll notice we read Mark 6 verses 30-34 and verses 53 to 56. What happened to verses 35-52?

          We’ll get to that in a moment.

          What I did read tells us of the apostles returning from the evangelical work Jesus gave them to do and telling Jesus, ‘all that they had done and taught’.

          He wants them to go to a deserted place to be all by themselves and rest for a little.

          But when they get to the deserted place it’s not ‘deserted’.

          People had seen them going and got there by land before they made it by boat—a great crowd of needy people.

          Jesus taught the crowds.

          Then we skip the verses and they are on a boat again. And when they land on a different shore people again rushed them. Jesus began to do great acts of healing.

          To Jesus—beset upon by crowds—the people were like ‘sheep without a shepherd’.

          All well and good but what does the lectionary omit?

          Just this: the feeding of the 5000 and Jesus walking on water to the disciples’ boat!!!

          I looked ahead in the lectionary and John’s story of the feeding of the 5000 comes up next week. So, I see why they left that part of Mark out. John’s story is much more detailed and nuanced.

          But the part about walking on water—why did you leave that out lectionary gurus?

          In Mark, feeding the multitudes left Jesus tired so he went away to a quiet place to pray and sent the disciples on ahead of him on the Sea of Galilee.

          But when he finished praying, he looked out and saw the disciples straining on the oars because the wind was pushing against the. So, he walks on the water to catch them.

          They are horrified, thinking he is a ghost. But Jesus tells them: “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”

          He gets into the boat and the wind ceases and the disciples were utterly astounded.

          We need to hear that part of the story today of all days.

          We need to ‘walk on the waters’ of this world’s divisions and troubles.

          To go into the depths of this world’s waters we will be caught in the flotsam and jetsam of all the confusion and disagreement our nation is undergoing. We will be sucked down to the bottom of the sea of troubles and drown.

          What we need is God’s grace to walk above all that and to, as Jesus did, feel ‘compassion’ for all the lost and wandering sheep who do not know which way to turn, who are hungry for Truth they cannot hear and the bread to make them whole.

          When you come up today to take the Body and Blood of Jesus or to receive a blessing, pray that he will hold you above the flay and give you compassion and wisdom and hope and wonder and truth.

          Pray that he may give you the power to walk on the troubled waters of this world.

          Pray that.

          Amen and Shalom.

 

 

Well, let's take a minute

 Let's take a minute to see where we are--as individuals and as a nation and as the world.

CT is one of the most vaccinated states. I feel safe, though I still wear a mask in public places.

The rest of the country and the world are not so lucky.

This Virus is not gone, beloved!

Remember that.

Lots of sickness and death to come.

When it first started, the whole Covid-19 thing, I thought to myself, "maybe this will erase the human race from the earth".

Then things started to loosen up and I thought, "Maybe we're through it."

But now, with vaccine rates so down in Red states, I'm not sure what I think.

It has been the weirdest year and a half of my long life.

And it's not over.

Bern googled to find out vaccination rates in North Carolina, where we're going in August.

They are good--but Gov. Roy Cooper is a Democrat--so no surprise there!

How this pandemic has been politicized is the worse thing about it.

All Americans should be making sure all Americans are safe from the virus. But we aren't. And it's political.

Alas.

Exhaustion

Here's what the Pandemic has done to me:

    * I did church on zoom for almost a year

    *I only left my house to get groceries

    *Bern--until a few months ago was the only person I talked to most days

    *I still wear and mask in public places and will until I'm mandated not to

Today I went to Trinity Milton for three hours and spent the entire time talking to 2 people, 2 people and one person--and I was exhausted when I got home.

Sunday interactions don't last 3 hours.

I used to be--before Covid-19 came--talking to people all the time.

I had time to become unused to that.

So three hours of human interaction wore me out.

My strength will come back, I'm sure.

But tonight: I'm exhausted from talking.

 

The Delta Variant

The Delta Variant is driving up Covid cases in many states.

Understand this--99.6% of the people in the US who died from Covid last week were un-vaccinated!

All the Anti-Vaccine people need to realize that in many cases their 'freedom' not to take the vaccine will be a death sentence!

I wonder how many of the Anti-Vaccine folks on Fox News have been vaccinated. A goodly number of them, I would guess. They are leading people down a perilous path. The deaths are on their heads.

I'm just sick and tired of those who are against the vaccine. They're not going to harm me, but they will harm those they love who are also without the vaccine.

I found out today that the % of people in each state who are fully vaccinated is almost exactly the % of people who voted for Biden

The opposite is true. The % of people in each state who are not fully vaccinated is almost the same as the % of people who voted for Trump.

Astonishing!

But not really.

Those who shout 'Give me Liberty or Give me Death!" about the vaccine, may just get both.

Alas and alack for our oh-so divided nation.

The only Lie bigger than 'Trump won' is 'you don't need the vaccine.'

 

Brother Dave

Brother Dave Gardner was a southern comedian and terrible racist.

But I listened to his albums (he made a bunch) during the 70's.

He was very funny, though deplorable too.

One of his best jokes went like this.

(Chuck and Baby, his girlfriend, were at a drive-in eating french fries. When they finished, Baby said, "Chuck, I'm cold."

So Chuck took off his leather jacket and put it on Baby backwards, zipping it up in the back.

"There, Baby," he said, "now you'll be warm".

Then he said, "Baby, let's blow this joint."

They took off on Chuck's motorcycle and all was going good until he hit a slick spot and slide in front of a truck.

The police arrived with their siren going 'brrr, brrr, brrr".

Two boys were standing beside the wreckage.

"What happened here", the policeman said, "what happened to these lovely children."

"Well officer," the boy began.

Whap! Whap! The policeman hit him.

"Don't hit me no more", the boy said. "Mr. Chuck was killed outright, but Miss Baby seemed alright until me and Junior turned her head around right.")

Police brutality and racism--but funny, none the less.

 

Here's what I don't get...

 Stuff all over the inter-net today about how Richard Branson beat Jeff Bezos into space.

Two billionaires building their own space rockets.

How can we live in a country where two people like that are spending millions and millions on rockets to escape the earth when children in the major cities of Connecticut (one of the wealthiest states) are living in abject poverty, millions in this country and billions in the world haven't had the covid vaccine, our infra-structure is rotting away, we don't seem to know how to bring in immigrants (as almost all of us were once), racism is rampant, voter suppression is in full swing, drought and record heat burns the west and many are still out of work because of the pandemic.

Does that seem right to you?

Does that seem right in any way?

Why aren't Branson and Bezos spending their money to solve problems here on earth instead of racing to get to space?

I just don't get it.

Something very, very wrong about this picture....