nothing to it
Usually I do so, and it's tempting to step outside on 7H porch to check out St Andrews Bay and greet the Monday; but the temperature is 43°F and Wind N 5 mph, so I'm staying inside. Not too early, 3:33 when I got up, 73° inside and the dehumidifiers have it at 41% in here, which makes it feel cool enough to have my lap blanket over my legs. Some like it hot, some like it cold, I don't like our hot summers as much as I did when a boy out of school until Labor Day, but cold weather I've Never enjoyed.
So much for a start of the day. With an early sandwich of Katz's Swiss cheese melted on toasted Pepperidge Farm extra thin white bread and a smear of mayo, my sipping mug of hot & black, and my only brain Time of Earth's rotation from Monday to Tuesday, what might the jumping fingers do? Have at it, little guys.
Sunday morning I was in the pew with Linda, unvested semi-mufti: why am I sitting it out instead of up front, assisting? I AM assisting: I'm taking names of people who say "Alleluia!" on Sundays in Lent. First violation and, along with their name in Sunday's worship bulletin, they'll get a phone call from the rector. Second violation brings a letter of warning from the bishop. Third violation, your annual pledge is doubled, your name is read out as anathema during the Prayers, you're suspended from the Sacrament until Easter, you have to come up front with the little folks for Children's Time and you don't get to carry the cross out. I mean it's Lent, discipline.
Called by the Rector in April 2009 as my five years as vicar at St Thomas by the Sea were ending, and retiring in May when he does, I'll've been at HNEC as Priest Associate for fifteen years, longer than any parish I served as rector or vicar (a vicar is "vicariously" in place as the bishop's designee). God willing and the Seminoles don't rise, I'll be around, willing and able to step up at the last minute if necessary to avoid having Morning Prayer on a Sunday morning.
Other than that, I've got four more Sundays in the pulpit (two in March and two in April) and, if anyone signs up, the two-session Confirmation Class to teach before the bishop comes on May 12, Mothers' Day.
After that, what'll I do to entertain myself? Something always comes along. Maybe in the Summer or Fall I'll help Dr Dan by leading a Sunday school session or two on Revelation. One thing's for sure: Holy Cross Day, September 14th will be the 89th anniversary of my birth at Adams Hospital, downtown Panama City.
Speaking of: my earliest memory? Blurry but it's still there: a blinding white light over me as I lay on an operating table to have my tonsils removed, people in white looking down at me as someone laid a cloth damp with ether over my nose & mouth and a loud buzzing sound started and got louder and louder. Dr Carmel Robert's Clinic in the little white brick building behind the Woman's Club. I was two years old.
See, these dancing fingers've got no sense, but while they were typing nonsense I read this morning's Propers for Monday in the First Week of Lent, and here's the gospel reading:
Matthew 25:31–46
Jesus said, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.
Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’
Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
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This is scary as all get-out for us whom our high school history teacher hero Bill Weeks shouted repeatedly, "DON'T BE A SHEEP, BE A GOAT!!" But Mr Weeks was right, and all my adult years I've fought my innate personality to be at least a little different. Will this end up with me dancing in the eternal fire?
One of my most trusted sources, scholars of the Jesus Seminar, "The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus: The Five Gospels, What Did Jesus Really Say?", Macmillan, NY 1993, p.257. designated the passage black by common consent; that Jesus was not into threatening hellfire, but that the passage fits Matthew's theological scheme that was popular in the post-Easter community.
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For me, anesthetized nigh unto euthanasia for tonsillectomy when I was two years old, for appendectomy when I was twelve years old, and again for open heart surgery when I was seventy-five years old, I've experienced the darkness of nonexistence and returned: nothing to it, and I'm not afraid of the Time when I do not come back.
Whatever you say, Lord.
RSF&PTL
T88&c
Clipart: pinched online