Sadness this evening, sadness of death. Comes to all of us, and increasingly if we are makarioi/makarios blessed happy enough to live long years into Life and all that Time brings. Notifications of two deaths this evening, contemplating it and've just sent notes to the loved ones. One, he and his family go back to Spring 1984, my first meeting and visit with the vestry at Trinity, Apalachicola, and really hit it off with this man. Well, all of them. George W, CT, Ina, Lee, Mary Virginia, George C, Buddy, Jack. But "my friends, life is short, and ... " It gets personal, so I'm watching my osprey nests in Colorado. Three eggs, new Dad stands tall and shows that typical male white chest, Mom has the necklace of brown speckle, he brings a fish for Mom,  lots of wildlife in the water below the nest, today the staff managing the camera swiveled it around so we could see buildings across the way, looked like a lumber yard or construction supply.  but my favorite is l...

  Personal privacy is compromised, so one must take care, but blogging is similar to journaling or keeping a diary. Similar but different. All three are setting down one's thoughts in writing, likely intended audiences vary, and objectives. A diary most private to oneself alone, to be respected as inviolable. I've never kept a diary, now and then I've jotted down thoughts of a "diary nature", most private and personal emotions, memories, hopes, joys, disappointments, but deleted, not preserved. Once, when I was twelve or thirteen, I opened and read someone's diary, greatly offending and forever straining a relationship. My lesson from my own shame included not only to respect others' privacy, but never to be too trusting. Some of life is too private or intense to share, but too bursting to keep bottled up, may need expressing, so diaries. Doris Day sang it when I was a teen, "Once I had a secret love". Calamity Jane, was it? Journaling, o ne can ...

  Though it needs to be read, few or none will read "Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid"  https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/05/social-media-democracy-trust-babel/629369/  perhaps the most discerning, cogent, but surely the most discouraging thing I have ever read in my life. To avoid it, though, is the sociopolitical ostrich burying his head in the sand to protect himself from  the unpleasant. The other day, someone of my generation said, We lived at the best Time, and yes, appreciate having Been, because world-wise it's all downhill from here. I have so enjoyed living into the age of rapid-fire electronic, medical, and other scientific Advancements; not necessarily Progress, mind, Advancements.  But the article competently and at length explains how what is so obvious and so devastating has happened and is accelerating and cannot be corrected. For me, I'm so glad to have lived in a Time when most...

  As a daily thing, I'm not into saints and holy days, but thinking about our collects of the church year and looking at the church calendar, I see April 25 is the holy day of Saint Mark the Evangelist, my favorite gospel and one of my three favorite Bible books. In parishes I have served or supplied, today, as any saint's day, the paraments are changed to Red.  So, here's today's collect: Saint Mark    April 25 Almighty God, by the hand of Mark the evangelist you have given to your Church the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God: We thank you for this witness, and pray that we may be firmly grounded in its truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. ++++++++++++ There's a full set of Propers for the Day (BCP p. 923), including Psalm 2 and either Mark 1:1-15 or Mark 16:15-20. Using Eugene Peterson's translation The Message, frankly, because it's sta...

For forty years I've read and preached John's gospel of Doubting Thomas, with whom I personally identify! Not this year, I'm thinking, instead of a sermon, to give you a book review.  Counting Easter Day there are seven Sundays of Easter, and this year’s Easter Season Bible readings come from Acts, Gospel John, and Revelation. Along with Genesis and Mark, Revelation is my favorite book of the Bible. Genesis is loaded with wonderful stories of God and his people, especially God keeping covenant with his friend Abraham as he teases him along.  Mark is the earliest, first, oldest and simplest of the four canonical gospels. Scholars say Mark’s Greek language is crude, and maybe so, but Mark is the cleverest by far in getting people excited about Jesus. Mark has writing quirks that, being aware of them, are distracting because I stop and notice them, but I find them charming as part of Mark’s personality, character, and “difference” from other writers.  Mark is imaginative, he...

  Revelation 1 1 1-2  A revealing of Jesus, the Messiah. God gave it to make plain to his servants what is about to happen. He published and delivered it by Angel to his servant John. And John told everything he saw: God’s Word—the witness of Jesus Christ! 3  How blessed the reader! How blessed the hearers and keepers of these oracle words, all the words written in this book! Time is just about up. His Eyes Pouring Fire-Blaze 4-7  I, John, am writing this to the seven churches in Asia province: All the best to you from The God Who Is, The God Who Was, and The God About to Arrive, and from the Seven Spirits assembled before his throne, and from Jesus Christ—Loyal Witness, Firstborn from the dead, Ruler of all earthly kings. Glory and strength to Christ, who loves us,      who blood-washed our sins from our lives, Who made us a Kingdom, Priests for his Father,      forever—and yes, he’s on his way! Riding the clouds, he’...