Yesterday

 We had a big crowd at Trinity, Milton, yesterday.

St. Michael's in Litchfield's Rector is suspended--no one seems to know the story--so a bunch of their parishioners came to Trinity for communion.

43 people! We average around 22, so it seemed like a lot of folks.

The music was wonderful--as always, since our musician is go good. How this little church has him is beyond me--he could be anywhere in the Diocese! But some of St. M's choir were in the congregation and they added a lot to the singing.

Lots of people thanked me for my John's Jesus vs. Mark's Jesus sermon.

Maybe they were just being polite...or maybe something showed up for them they weren't expecting. Who knows?

Bill reported it all on our on-line newsletter. He's really great!

If you'd like to be on his list let him know at bill.starr@mac.com.

You won't regret it.

What I'll say Tomorrow

 We've been reading John's Gospel for weeks. I enjoyed it.

But last week we shifted to Mark--and I don't like it.

What I'll do tomorrow is contrast Mark's Jesus with John's Jesus.

You see, Jesus is different in all four gospels.

Mark was the earliest and shortest of the Gospels. It was written around 70 A.D.--given life spans then and there, about a generation after the life of Jesus.

John was written another generation later--somewhere around 110 A.D.

John's Jesus knows everything--who he is, what he's going to do, who will betray him, how he will rise from the dead.

Mark's Jesus is just learning as he goes along.

John's Jesus takes his time. Mark's Jesus is always moving--the word that can be translated "immediately" occurs 40 times in Mark.

John's Jesus wants everyone to know about him. Mark's Jesus tries to stay secret.

Lots of other stuff will come in.

We'll see how it goes.

54 years!!!

 Today is our wedding anniversary.

Bern and I have been married 54 years.

Amazing in the face of so many divorces we all see.

It's over 2/3 of Bern's and my lives

We were 20 and 23 when we married.

Now we are 74 and 77.

I can hardly believe it.

But it is true!

Happy Anniversary to us......

 

Politics

 I am a 'yellow dog Democrat'.

What that means is if a yellow dog was running against an upstanding, moderate Republican--I'd vote for the yellow dog!

The Presidential election is absolutely the most important one in a hundred years.

Trump and Vance stand for everything I oppose.

Kamala and Tim aren't quite as liberal as I wish--but they stand for everything our country needs.

Not a hard decision.

Vance being booed by a labor union is enough...isn't it?

And Trump being obsessed about crowd size is crazy since he is losing on that at every turn.

So what do they stand for?

Division and name-calling and avoiding issues.

That's what.

Harris and Walz--that's who our country needs....

No doubt!

Weird stuff I do

 I know both our front and back stairs in the house have 13 steps--yet I count them every time.

It's 22 steps from our front door to my car--and I count them every time.

I tear off random toilet paper and fold it up--if it comes out even, I win. If not, I lose.

I back out of the driveway--though there's lots of room to turn around.

I eat biscuits and gravy every breakfast--turkey sausage, by the way.

Every time I go to Trinity Church, Milton, I check the mileage on my trip. It's always 31.

I don't put on my stole until I'm in church and take it off after the recessional and carry it around to hear the after service music by our great musician, MF.

I re-read books by David Rosenfelt--my favorite author.

I shave my neck on Wednesdays and Saturdays--never any other day.

Lots of other weird stuff too--won't mention them here....

Bible Study

 We're reading Romans, which fills the room with questions.

Circumcision vs. not. Righteousness vs. Law. Even what 'reckon' means which Abraham was 'reckoned righteous'.

Outlining Paul's reasons for what he writes is my job--and not an easy one!

We only read two chapters today because there were so many questions and lively discussion.

Just what Bible Study should be....

Just what I think

 Donald Trump is dangerous and crazy and should be in jail or an insane asylum.

Evangelicals who support him don't understand Christianity.

Everyone is equal in our society--those who have millions and those who have nothing. We have to find ways to 'truly make them equal'.

Dogs are better companions than most human beings.

If I didn't celebrate and preach, I'm not sure I'd go to church (that's painful to admit.)

Kamala and Tim are people I'll be proud to vote for.

Democracy is fragile and must be protected at all costs.

The Yankees are the best in baseball. (I've rooted for them all my life. My father and a few friends were in NYC waiting to ship out for WW II and some people gave them tickets to a Yankees/Dodgers World Series game and my father decided which ever team won would be 'his team'. Guess who won....)

My wife does too much for us and I do too little--but we are both ok with that.

Just a few of the things I think.

Feel free to disagree....