Part of my reading this week has been about desires, holy desires. It's a personal spirituality that perceives the hand, desire, presence and call of God in our deepest desires, which are the basis of vocation. Not red convertibles: what we desire to do and be as human beings, and perceiving the call of God in the desire. Or, a little deeper, what we wish we desired, and recognizing God’s own desire, God’s summons, in our wishing for the desire. Personal example. As a priest it bothers me that I’m not, as I know myself, a very spiritual person. Religious, OK, but not spiritual. I wish I were more spiritual. Or actually, in that I may be pretty much satisfied with myself as I am (a sin of either pride or complacency), I wish that I wanted to be a more spiritual person. If I were a more spiritual person, I could be a better priest; for example, offering myself as a spiritual director to persons who need and seek that ministry. As I age and contemplate my ministries and my ebbing...

Vision of the New Jerusalem 9  Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. 11  It has the glory of God and a radiance like a very rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal. 12  It has a great, high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates are inscribed the names of the twelve tribes of the Israelites; 13  on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14  And the wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15  The angel who talked to me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16  The city lies foursqu...

The Creepy Crawlies A Song of Creation      Benedicite, omnia opera Domini        Song of the Three Young Men, 35-65  I    Invocation O all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord; *     praise him and magnify him for ever. O ye angels of the Lord, bless ye the Lord; *     praise him and magnify him for ever. II    The Cosmic Order O ye heavens, bless ye the Lord; *     O ye waters that be above the firmament, bless ye the Lord; O all ye powers of the Lord, bless ye the Lord; *     praise him and magnify him for ever. O ye sun and moon, bless ye the Lord; *     O ye stars of heaven, bless ye the Lord; O ye showers and dew, bless ye the Lord; *     praise him and magnify him for ever. O ye winds of God, bless ye the Lord; *     ...

“We Love To Punish” This computer’s storage and Desktop has so many car pictures it’s a marvel anything will process. Time to move stuff to Trash, at least those that are readily available on line.  Reading at the moment. Actually reading again, The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything as I think and explore and start trying to figure out, discern is the spiritual word, things about my life, use of the time I have left, including my ministries after next month. In my life and lifestyle, my vocations shift over time, and actively discerning that shifting is a facet of my -- spirituality. My way has generally been to work through it in the wee hours or just ignore it and let it happen, but this season of change may require some time in Retreat. So, looking into that as a possibility for a few times over coming months. In that my blog postings are journaling of sorts, that’s what this is. Journaling self-reflection. Boston Bombings are still in mind, and may be so for a ...

In the early 1950s my Gentry grandparents Mamoo and Daddy Walt went to Cuba on vacation, drove to Miami then flew across. My first cousins Margaret and Bill, children of mama’s brother Wilbur, whom my grandparents raised after the death of their mother in July 1939, were on the trip. Bill later described what one might call an Ugly Americanism by our grandmother .  In an elegant restaurant she asked a waiter where the bathroom was. The man didn’t understand. Or indicated so, shaking his head. To his real or feigned and continuing lack of understanding, Mamoo became increasingly impatient and kept raising her voice, talking louder. It’s a common habit: if at first the foreigner doesn’t understand your English, speak louder. “The bathroom.” Blank stare. “ The bathroom.” Blank, shake head. “ THE BATHROOM.” Blank stare, eyes diverted as though trying to figure it out. At a shout that caused everyone in the restaurant to turn and stare, Mamoo switches to Spanish. “ ZEE BASSROOM DAMMIT...

Aaaahhhhh! A follow-through checkup in August, but it’s done, finished. Yesterday, Wednesday afternoon, the surgeon deadened both eyelids and removed the last sutures from recent surgery to tighten the muscles so eyelids no longer droop to cover pupils, light enters eyes, vision is restored. The doctor said he does 500 of these operations a year, and my droopy eyelids were the worst he had ever seen.  Eye Celebration? My last hotdog was before October 17, 2010 when cardiologists took control and certain foods were put on the forbidden list. Supper last night was a two-course meal. First course, angus beef hotdog with chili, Löwensenf mustard and a Munich beer. Second course: angus beef hotdog mitt sauerkraut, Löwensenf und eine sekunde München Bier. Zweiten. Sehr gut. Only way it could have been better would have been while sitting in Riverfront Stadium watching Johnny Bench, Pete Rose and the Big Red Machine -- which we did while living in Columbus. Are the eyes noticeab...

Working. On the outside back screened porch. Northwest corner of the house off the back porch, family room and kitchen. From a cone shaped hanging basket peeks the beady eye of a bird. The bird couple built their nest on this periphery of Patty’s Garden. To discourage cats and raccoons, Linda moved away the table that was under the basket. Jeremy is the bird watcher in the family, hoping for their survival we’ll wait for him to tell us their breed, and about this bird family and their habits. MIND THE GAP. In the mug Malinda and Kristen brought me from London in 2009, a cup of Gevalia coffee, on introductory sale at Publix. Michael Jackson died while they were in London and when I texted or emailed informing them they were at a tearoom near Kensington Palace for a pot of English tea, little sandwiches, scones with thick cream and strawberry preserve (conserve?). My first cup of Gevalia was when calling on Fred at his beach house at Cape San Blas soon after his wife died. About 19...

Nonsensical Babble Not For Reading This has been an interesting wake-up morning and continues so. For starters, four-thirty is late, my usual wake up is about three to three-fifteen, though recently I’ve been trying to train my bathroom habit -- OK, WTH, bladder -- to wake me soon after midnight so as to go back to sleep and maybe sleep till five, a sheer luxury that has actually happened once or twice since I started trying this. In fact, Sunday morning I slept until five-thirty, which would have been nearly disastrous on a Sunday morning if it had been my Sunday to preach the sermon. This morning’s wake up was to an anxiety dream, hot and sweaty and tangled in the sheets and blanket and pillows. My anxiety dreams are always one of two types. I’ve been called to active duty as a Navy officer. It’s a huge ship, usually an aircraft carrier, and having just reported aboard, I can’t find my way around. When I find my way to my stateroom my uniform is all goofed up and I can’t fi...

Revelation 7:9-17 (NRSV) 9 ... I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. 10 They cried out in a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 singing, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” 13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you are the one that knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes...

Fender Skirts One of my all-time favorite cars, one of my many, many all-time favorites, was the 1953 Chevrolet. It came to mind a couple days ago when a friend sent me an email about fender skirts. The '53 Chevy was the second generation post-war Chevrolet, the 1946, 47, 48 having been a continuation of the pre-war 1942 Chevy:  and the 1949, 50, 51, 52 having been the first complete redesign and restyle after WW2.  The 1953, 54 Chevrolet was new and elegant. It never garnered the classic status of the golden age 1955, 56, 57 trio:   But at least the 1953-54 was on the market two years, not just a single year like the enormous 1958 Chevy that introduced the Impala series: Why General Motors did that one year production of such a beautiful car was beyond me then and still is today. And the '53 was well before the 1959 Chevy with its outrageous fins that created the eyebrow taillights. But the 1953, 54 was a goo...