Tuesday afternoon picture of a hurricane remnant centered on Pittsburgh, stretching from Bangor, Maine to Chicago, Illinois. Halloween morning stretching from east and north of Bangor to Minneapolis. Damage beyond incredible, flooding, and fires still raging. Hurricanes are supposed to be relatively small and die out quickly, what’s the deal, climate change or once a century storm? Don’t say climate change , it's politically incorrect. How can one be so stupid as to think climate change is political not scientific. Ushher's 4004 BC crowd.  Bad news from all over: don’t climb trees in Brazil, and this is just one of sixteen species waiting Before WWII my father was in the fish business like his father before him. An early memory is of watching as the brand new 1941 Chevrolet truck parked in our back yard just outside the dining room windows, was driven off by whoever bought it from my father, who was going into the maritime service for the duration.  It wa...

SGM Sunday mornings, or any morning when my plan of the day requires stamina or the use of my diminishing brainpower, my breakfast focuses on protein. Salmon, chicken, beef or pork, often my Sunday breakfast is an omelet that combines two eggs with one of those other proteins and maybe a bit of forbidden cheese. This morning's omelet, eggs, chicken, cheese, shake of parmesan, half cup of GiaDa's marinara tomato sauce with artichokes, yum. And Dr. Oz or somebody said Sribacha hot sauce kicks up the metabolism, so a teaspoon of that so I don't fall asleep during my "lecture" (or sermon)  a la  the shaggy professor on  Rowan and Martin's Laugh In  a generation or two ago. Who was it? Didn't he also play the stupid Nazi soldier?  Late this morning. Up early today, my time was used not dreaming up and writing my usual Nonsense, but checking on a parishioner who had surgery last night into the wee hours, then preparing for our Bible Seminar this morning ...

Forty Ford Not Forgot Joe knows I love cars, especially old cars, most especially cars that were on the road from the mid-1930s up through the late-1940s, when I was a boy.  When Joe sees an old car that he knows I would like he snaps and sends me pictures. Saturday mornings, he and a neighbor go out for breakfast, and this past Saturday he spotted a car he didn’t know but said, “My dad will know.” Any car nut my age will go off nostalgic at a forty Ford with chevron taillights,  especially a forty Ford tudor, especially a forty Ford Standard tudor, arguably one of the most desirable Ford collectibles of all time. Though most collectors prefer coupes, and most collectors may prefer the forty Ford Deluxe coupe, the Standard has more classic styling.  Ford has licensed and authorized the building and sale of brand new forty Ford Deluxe coupe bodies through Ford Restoration Hardware: http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1080100_1940-ford...

Not for the Faint of Heart Some folks are tired of the political campaign. Not bothering us, we mute the commercials and voted Saturday. Saturday: a day for remembering why heart patients should not watch Gator football. SEC East standings this predawn morning still show Florida above Georgia, which is ridiculous after yesterday.  Gamecocks game tense all the way through to the pass interception grand finale, or was it a fumble, it looked like a snatch, great ending play, good score. Terrific game sadly dampened by Lattimore’s injury which may end his NFL prospects. Vince Dooley’s son Derek, Atty at Law, may be returning to the courtroom, eh? Need to change the subject completely. FLORIDA 2013 Schedule Sept. 21 TENNESSEE Sept. 28 at Kentucky Oct. 5 ARKANSAS Oct. 12 at LSU Oct. 19 at Missouri Nov. 2 vs. Georgia (Jacksonville) Nov. 9 VANDERBILT Nov. 16 at South Carolina Sunday school this morning: one last swing through the Gospel according to Mark. Sermon: the Go...

Outside the back door, yellow butterflies are fluttering around Patty's Garden. They remind me of Ilse. A bright and cheerful member of our choir, Ilse Newell died of self-inflicted gunshot a Sunday morning, September 1985. We had been in Apalachicola a year, and the men of the church were having our first fish fry. The day before, a couple of them had been out in the bay with cast nets, then a bunch of us gathered in a fishhouse down on the river and cleaned mullet.  After church I went outside to where the mullet were being fried and immediately Linda called me to the phone. George Chapel was calling from Ilse’s house across the bridge and turn right, on Magnolia Bluff overlooking the river and bay. Ilse is dead, he said. She hadn’t been in choir for church and he had driven over to check on her. I missed the fish fry. Ilse was lying face down in the yard. The sheriff arrived a minute or two after me.  It was yellow butterfly season. All that afternoon butterflie...

ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΡΚΟΝ 10:46-52 1881 Westcott-Hort NT (WHNU) 46 και ερχονται εις ιεριχω και εκπορευομενου αυτου απο ιεριχω και των μαθητων αυτου και οχλου ικανου ο υιος τιμαιου βαρτιμαιος τυφλος προσαιτης εκαθητο παρα την οδον 47 και ακουσας οτι ιησους ο ναζαρηνος εστιν ηρξατο κραζειν και λεγειν υιε δαυιδ ιησου ελεησον με 48 και επετιμων αυτω πολλοι ινα σιωπηση ο δε πολλω μαλλον εκραζεν υιε δαυιδ ελεησον με 49 και στας ο ιησους ειπεν φωνησατε αυτον και φωνουσιν τον τυφλον λεγοντες αυτω θαρσει εγειρε φωνει σε 50 ο δε αποβαλων το ιματιον αυτου αναπηδησας ηλθεν προς τον ιησουν 51 και αποκριθεις αυτω ο ιησους ειπεν τι σοι θελεις ποιησω ο δε τυφλος ειπεν αυτω ραββουνι ινα αναβλεψω 52 και ο ιησους ειπεν αυτω υπαγε η πιστις σου σεσωκεν σε και ευθυς ανεβλεψεν και ηκολουθει αυτω εν τη οδω Mark 10:46-52 Young's Literal Translation (YLT) 46 And they come to Jericho, and as he is going forth from Jericho, with his disciples and a great multitude,...

Part of Me! Some will remember. In the old days when cigarette smoking was general, as soon as a Navy ship left port and reached the three-mile-limit a bosun's pipe would shrill and an announcement would be passed over the 1MC, “Now, sea stores, sea stores, the ship’s store is open for sale of sea stores cigarettes.” They were a dollar a carton, available without paying taxes and tariffs. And when there was a break in a day’s work routine, at sea or ashore, the supervising petty officer would say, “Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.” These great “posters” are pseudo, spoofs. One I’ve shared here before as a blog post. The naval service has changed since my days, but the organizations I still admire most after more than a half century as a naval officer are the Navy SEALS  and the submariners.  But the guys in naval aviation, both Navy and Marine Corps were the most laid back and the most fun to work with. Peace! Tom Commande...

Proper 25     The Sunday closest to October 26 Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. This collect for next Sunday always reminds me of the time fifty-four years ago when Navy officers in my graduating class were speaking to the “detailer” about what kind of an assignment we wanted. The “detailer” being the officer from Washington who did our “detailing,” made our assignments. A few shore assignments were available, plus a tender homeported in Villafranche. Most of us would be going to sea duty, either destroyers, cruisers, aircraft carriers, or tenders (large ships that do maintenance on destroyers or submarines, and that stay tied up to the pier most of the time). One member of my class, an ensign my age, about 22, was newly mar...

Can I Get an Amen? A friend sent me the picture recently, saying the squirrel reminded her of childhood years attending a church with her grandmother, and the preacher up front shouting, “Can I get an Amen?” Not many Amens shouted in Episcopal worship these days, although the church means for the Great Amen that concludes the Eucharistic Prayer to be enthusiastic and vigorous: AMEN .  Not many hands in the air either.  When Episcopalians go to seminary, where we go and what we study is decided by the bishop who is sponsoring us (this is the Episcopal Church, and episcopal means governed by bishops, so most of us are not loose cannons). As a kindness to me because it was close to our home in Harrisburg and I could commute and would not have to move my family, my bishop (Diocese of Central Pennsylvania) sent me to the Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. But he specified that I must take certain courses at the Episcopal Theological Seminary in A...

Proper 24     The Sunday closest to October 19 Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed your glory among the nations: Preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Perhaps all prayer is good prayer, yet to me as celebrant our collect for yesterday felt and sounded like something plain vanilla being said because it was the place to say something. New to the 1979 edition of The Book of Common Prayer, it dates at least from the 8th century Gelasian Sacramentary ( Book of Sacraments of the Church of Rome ) according to Hatchett.  My feeling about the collect instantly went away though as the choir of Grace Episcopal Church, PCB so beautifully sang their offertory anthem, Ken Medema’s, “Come Build a Church.”  Come build a church...

If international disputes could be played out and settled on the gridiron, the baseball diamond, the soccer pitch, the basketball court, what a happier world this could be.  Even in the American autumn there are more important things in the world than football; but nothing is more important than love and friendship. A teacher at our school of whom I am very fond happens also to be the daughter of my all time favorite Florida football coach who raised Florida to national prominence and has helped burnish the SEC into the nation’s top football conference. While at Florida, Amy was even the Kappa Alpha Rose , our equivalent of the Sweetheart of Sigma Chi !  Amy is so much a favorite that when the Gators play the Gamecocks I am truly torn. Yesterday as promised, I wore my Gamecocks cap all afternoon through the game, and the score, which I had hoped and anticipated would be touch and go, greatly saddened me rather than how I otherwise feel about a Gator victory. I will say, ...

adversus vermis There was a time when it seemed to make little difference who was president, the incumbent just got jerked around by Congress. Disillusionment came when Reagan sent Marines to Lebanon in 1983 against the advice of his Secretary of Defense, and again when Bush launched the Iraq war against the advice of his Secretary of State and all norms of law, sense and decency. Worry now is Cold War mentality talk of Russia as the Threat, talk of softness toward China, a subtly developing capitalist nation and international factor where more Buicks are built than in America, and of longtime personal coziness with Bibi the manipulative saber rattler.  The real and greatest Threat is religious fanaticism, much overt, more waiting to crawl out if its rock is kicked over. Disillusionment is a good thing: nobody with good sense would wish to live with illusions.  It makes all the difference in the world. T 

Jesus Was Adopted? Hebrews 5:1-10 Every high priest chosen from among mortals is put in charge of things pertaining to God on their behalf, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is subject to weakness; 3 and because of this he must offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people. 4 And one does not presume to take this honour, but takes it only when called by God, just as Aaron was. 5  So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him, ‘You are my Son,    today I have begotten you’; 6 as he says also in another place, ‘You are a priest for ever,    according to the order of Melchizedek.’ 7  In the days of his flesh, Jesus * offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent ...

Go to Hell Science News is that a planet has been detected orbiting Alpha Centauri B, a star nearest us. It’s about the size of earth, so the question stirs of colonizing it, but apparently it’s only four million miles from its sun, so would be too hot for comfort. Might in time be a good place for a penal colony though, just as Australia was first colonized as a hellish place to banish British criminals. At the sentencing hearing the judge will say, “Mr. Smith-Jones, go to Hell,” whereupon the convicted felon will be taken to the transporter room and zapped to an inferno four light years from earth. In due course S-J will find a suitable help meet; or he will fall into a deep sleep and when he awakens the judge will have sent him one. They will be fruitful and multiply, and the rest will be future. All the steaks will be cooked well done in Hell, but will there be religion in Hell? If there are people, there will be religion. At EfM last night discussion was about Friedri...