Top 10 reasons for Being an Episcopalian

 I was sure I posted this before, but couldn't find it when I searched my blog.

I have a red tee-shirt with the Episcopal shield on the upper left side in front and the Top 10 (by Robin Williams, who was an Episcopalian) on the back.

I got it, I suspect, at the National Cathedral, which is the only place it seemed to be available.

10. No snake handling.

9. You can believe in dinosaurs.

8. Male and female, God created them; male and female, we ordain them.

7. You don't have to check your brains at the door.

6. Pew aerobics.

5. Church year is color coded.

4. Free wine on Sunday.

3. All of the pageantry, none of the guilt.

2. You don't have to know how to swim to get baptized,

1. No matter what you believe, there's bound to be at least one other Episcopalian who agrees with you.

All true!

 

Trinity, Milton

Trinity's annual meeting was after Eucharist on Sunday.

(No coffee hour, which are great, because of Covid.)

The meeting was fine--though I hate meetings--but I love the people so much I can put up with meetings!

But I've loved the people everywhere I have served, unlike many priests I know.

Maybe, I'm just a great priest--or, more likely, I've been very, very lucky!

The music at Trinity is remarkable for a small church--for any church, for that matter. Michael, the music man, is the best I've ever worked with--and I've worked with some great ones. And Jordan, the singing leader is in a league by himself.

The people are so smart and friendly and kind--couldn't ask for more than that.

They do a lot in the community--like every church I've served.

And that's what churches are for--to inspire people to reach out and help others.

So, I'm very secure and settled and happy at Trinity.

Long may we work together.

 

zoom mreeting

I did a three hour zoom meeting for the Board of the Mastery Foundation this afternoon.

Three hours is a long zoom.

Yet it was great!

I got to see people I hadn't seen in over a year.

The Foundation does great work--more than just the Making A Difference workshops I lead.

The conversation was great.

But the best part was 10 minutes of centering prayer--something every part of the Mastery group does.

Amazing what being quiet and centering can do.

Ask me about it.

That's worth doing. 

 

Sunday's Sermon

 

January 23, 2022

        Today is Trinity’s Annual Meeting.

        There are two things an Annual Meeting should do.

        Look back on what has come before and look ahead to what comes next.

        Today’s readings give us guidance on both those things we should do.

        Paul’s letter to the Christians in Corinth tells us how to look back.

        We are the Body of Christ in this world and Paul asks about the Body.

        Every part of the Body is necessary and important. No matter what role they play in the Body they are necessary and important. The most humble part of the Body makes the Body whole.

        So there are many parts of the Body of Christ that must be honored. From the Brain and the Heart to the finger and the toe.

        As I see it, Trinity honors all it’s members and folks who are on the edges. I am sure you do that.

        We are one Body here at Trinity and we should celebrate and appreciate that.

        Truly.

        Looking forward, the Gospel speaks to what comes next.

        Jesus, at the synagogue in his home town, read a powerful message.

        Listen:

        “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

        Because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.

        He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

        And recovery of sight to the blind,

        to set the oppressed go free,

        to proclaim the year of the world’s favor.”

        He rolled up the scroll and said, “today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

 

        That’s what is ahead for Trinity.

        To care for the poor, release those in the bondage to the past, to set those who are oppressed free.

        To do Christ’s work in the world.

        Trinity already does that.

        But we must be more committed to that.

        And we must reach out to those unchurched to offer them safety in our community.

        We are called to fulfill the scripture in our community.

 

        What the gospel today leaves out is that after that moment the people in the synagogue began to doubt the ‘Joseph’s son’ could do these things.

        They became enraged and put him out of the synagogue.

        So, doing the work we must do may bring judgement on us.

        We may be criticized.

        But we are the Body of Christ.

        We must stand for change.

        We must do the work God has given us to do.

        No matter what others may think or say.

        We are the Body of Christ.

        We move into a new year together, destined to do the work of Christ in this world.

        Please stay for the Annual Meeting and please be part of Christ’s Body in this world.

Amen.

More about the COLD

 I'm sure you are tired of hearing me complain about the COLD.

But complain I will.

When I got up this morning it was zero on our back porch--and I didn't  get up until nearly 9--an hour after Bern walked Brigit and almost fell down. I can't imagine how that went.

Right now it's 10 degrees on our back porch (almost 6 p.m.).

The bank thermometer up the road is always 5 degrees warmer than our back porch one--but anything below 60 outdoors is cold to me.

We keep our house at 70 (or, I do, Bern turns it down to 67 when I'm not constantly checking!)

But the last few days she's left it where I set it.

Maybe I should try to push it up to 72?

I've always hated the cold, but as I age, my hatred increases.

Just another thing about aging....

MAD again, maybe

I've been helping lead the Making A Difference workshop for close to two decades.

We've had no workshops for two years.

But maybe in June at Holy Cross Monastery in upstate New York, overlooking the Hudson (a beautiful place of Episcopal monks).

Didn't know Episcopalians had monks and nuns?

Surprise, we do.

I've been a good leader, I believe, but I can't for the life of me remember what goes on in the workshop!

Two years without doing it, my mind is blank.

We do Centering Prayer in it, several times a day.

And the workshop is magic.

I was considering renouncing my priestly vows when I took it and here I am, almost 30 years later, still a priest.

(So, I've been helping MAD for almost three decades!)

If you want to hear more and let me seek to enroll you in June's workshop send me an Email at Padrejgb@aol.com.

l'd love to share it with you and make a difference for you to make a difference....

 

MLK, Jr.

Yesterday was his National Holiday.

We owe so much to his legacy and his words.

He changed our nation in important ways.

I've told you this before, but Martin Luther King's Day prompts me to tell you again.

I grew up in McDowell County, West Virginia, until I went to college. The county was nearly 50/50 between whites and blacks.

Until my senior year of high school, I never went to school with black kids. That year, before the schools were merged the next year, they sent over two smart girls and three boys good at sports to begin the process. That was 1965!

My little town was terribly segregated. I only knew three of the black people--Gene, who I worked with in my uncle's grocery store, Martha, his wife, who was my uncle's housekeeper, and Skipper, who worked for my other uncle in his Esso (yes, Esso!) station.

My first year of college I became friends with a black student who had gone to the black high school in the town where I went to high school. He would introduce me to his friends by telling them "we went to different high schools together".

Years later, at the first parish I served, a black parish in Charleston, WV, I met my friend's sister who was a member of the parish.

The second two churches I served had large black membership.

I appreciated the chance to make up for my upbringing by engaging and loving them.

There is still so much to do to honor Martin Luther King's 'dream'.

But we don't seem ready to do it. Republicans and two Democrats (one from my home state!) are blocking voting rights act and the Build Back Better bill that would make life so much better for all of us and especially people of color.

And yesterday, the new governor of Virginia took King's words out of context to justify not teaching 'critical race theory' in his stare (which wasn't being taught anyway!)

God help us.

In 25 years--I won't live to see it but wish I would--black, brown, yellow and red people will be the majority in our country.

I hope they will do better in making Martin's Dream come true.

I pray that they will.