It's 8 p.m. And it's cold.
Not as cold as it will be as the year winds down--I know that. But I don't like it cold.
My wife and I fight over the thermostat.
She wants it at 65 and I want it near 70.
We were watching TV a while ago and I have on a shirt, a sweatshirt and my Kansas City Chiefs jacket with the hood up.
She said, "are you cold?" Which seemed like a silly question to me.
So, she's going to hook up a little heater on my side of the bed tonight.
I'd rather turn up the thermostat....
Which is why I don't put them on my blog any more.
I make notes as I read the lessons and preach from the notes.
I've been doing this a long time--I don't need a text to read. I know what I want to say and how and I say it.
Today's sermon was about divorce, children and Job.
Mark's Jesus was harsh about divorce so I assured the congregation that the Episcopal church allows it.
Jesus was also with children today and Trinity has a great stained glass window of Jesus with children.
I talked about children being dependent, loving, patient and kind.
(The youngest person in the congregation today--8--told me she wasn't patient at all!)
Then I talked about Job--whose tribulations made up the Old Testament lesson. I talked about how he accepted the good and the bad and did not blame God for the bad he experienced.
I told the congregation (and myself!) we must be like little children to enter the Kingdom and like Job in accepting the bad with the good.
That's what I said.
We always know when the mailman comes (I should say 'mail deliverer' since it could be a woman) because our dog, Brigit barks when he or she is on our porch.
Brigit didn't bark for 3 years after we adopted her as an abused dog.
But she found her voice a few months ago.
I hate the sound, but I'm so, so glad she thinks she's safe enough to bark....
Driving up to Trinity Church, Milton, normally takes around half-an-hour.
But Wednesday I got stuck in a traffic jam a few miles before the Watertown exit off RT 8 North. It took me 20 minutes to go 2 miles and then it simply broke up. Try as I may I can't come up with a reason that it happened....
Then, on the way back, somewhere in Waterbury on I 84, my power steering went off.
I nearly lost both arms driving without it.
I called our favorite service place when I got home and they couldn't look at it until Friday.
I took it down today--power steering working fine--and left it for them to look at tomorrow.
I can't figure that out any more than the traffic traffic jam.
I wish I had the super power to 'beam' myself to places and not use a car....
We have a spider web on the wall of our tiny back porch between the back door and a window to our living room.
Insects get caught in it and my leaning is to free them. But Bern tells me 'no, let Nature take it's course."
I've come to agree with her.
Though we humans do a lot to destroy Nature, we should let it take it's course.
And do all we can not to destroy it.
My father was in New York City ready to ship off to Europe in WW II when a generous man gave him and some of his friends tickets to a Yankees/Dodgers World Series game.
Being from Southern West Virginia in the 40's, no baseball team was close enough to root for.
So he decided whoever won the game would be his team.
The Yankees won.
So I grew up as a Yankees fan and am until this day.
They just won the East and are on their way to the playoffs.
Go Yankees!
...how I used to go up and down stairs easily.
But not now.
My knees are bad.
I hurt and have to be careful coming up stairs.
I'm better going down, but not by much.
Oh, I long for those days when stairs were just stairs and not a problem....
