There are subjects and there are topics, and though I'm as interested and concerned as the next American, I've tried somewhat over the years to keep +Time from being yet another rage about political issues. Social issues might be another thing, although politics is about social issues, how people treat other people, especially those they hate and those they can bully; while religion, at least Christianity, is about exactly the same thing: love God, love neighbor, where Neighbor is the one you hate as Jesus' listeners hated Samaritans; and where Love is not a feeling but how you treat other people. And where lovingkindness is the rule, r especting the dignity of every human being. Neighbors are not the same as brethren and friends, and Canada and Mexico have been valued, trusted friends. The way Mexico and Canada are being treated is unconscionable, no one treats friends contemptuously. Speaking of Canada as our 51st state is arrogant, outrageous. No desire for Mexico as o...

  My inclination about the topic headline below would be to put an exclamation point instead of a period full stop! Maybe two or three exclamation points!!! Why? Because. Just because. Maybe because otherwise it seems almost arrogantly presumptive. The exclamation points let it take itself less seriously.  As to "choosing a religion," I'm already in a good one that rings true and suits me: with my mind and eye on the Universe beyond earth, I'm still and always on that proverb "seek the truth, come whence it may, cost what it will" and I don't expect to finish seeking in this lifeTime. But I like Moses' challenge, "When they ask who you are, what shall I tell them?" and the answer, "tell them IS sent you, BEING itself. Tell them I AM sent you." Where, in my seeking, I find maybe two trillion galaxies. If each galaxy has a trillion planets, that's 2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 planets with some fraction of a percentage of th...

  Hacking away at Saturday as my face recovers again, for the second Time since New Years Day, this Time somewhat painfully for a change, from Thursday's help with making the dermatologist's car payment. First Time I've taken their prescription of "for surgical pain" capsules, which seem to bring on bizarre dreams. Not scary nightmares, but absurd nonsense. Graphs and stacks of numbers and assignments with deadlines to work out and solve. And three hour dayTime naps. Well, I like the naps - - at this age, naps are the best part of life, but waking up from them is miserable. A nap is supposed to let you wake up refreshed, but these don't! +++++++ We had other on calendar for today but are sticking close to 7H as Time comes for removing the bandage. Dr prescribed no shower until today, then rip the adhesive tape off, wash with antibacterial soap, and water and the prescription salve are to start the process of dissolving the stitches.  +++++++ But there's st...

  Here's our gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday: Luke 2:22-40 When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, the parents of Jesus brought Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord"), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons." Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, "Lord, now lettest thou thy s...

Some people have dates that mean something to them, touch them in some way. Last week, January 23 and January 24 were a binary for me, dates circling around each other since before my memories. On January 23, 1947 I came home, I was in sixth grade at Cove School with Mrs Bowen as our teacher, came home from school and stood in the kitchen as our maid, always a Black woman who looked after us at home while Mama was at work, asked me, "Did you know your grandmother died today?" Mom, my father's mother, was my most loved person in life. I remember breaking into tears, and I remember the lump in my throat and chest that were there for months.  It was the day before my sister Gina's ninth birthday, so January 24 also shares in the dates meaning to me. Gina died at age 83 in October 2021 as the result of injuries and complications when her motor home rolled and disintegrated on State Road 20 north of Lynn Haven. Gina and I had the usual sibling rough places growing up and i...

  You can read most anywhere that in these days of religious decline, many people describe themselves as "spiritual but not religious." It seems to be a norm of self realization for many folks. But anyone who has known me for a while may recall me saying from Time to Time, that I do not experience myself as a spiritual person. That I might see myself as neither spiritual nor religious; but that if I have to choose, I'm reverse to that norm, maybe religious but not spiritual.  And I do not enjoy, and in general have little appreciation for, "spiritual writing". Yet I absolutely appreciate Fr Richard Rohr, his writing, his outlook on life, his daily posts from the Center for Action and Contemplation. It's because I identify with the Christianity of Fr Rohr's place in life as a Franciscan. Where life's focus is not personal piety, but proactive love for neighbor.  And being an Episcopalian fits me well, specifically because of our Baptismal Covenant wit...