Saturday, Lent, and our Propers for tomorrow (scroll down) are a veritable theme park of the season: peace. temptation, deliberate sin, damnation, loving forgiveness and restoration. And the Romans 5 reading sets out pretty much everything anyone ever needs to read to understand Paul's theology.   The Collect sets the stage, then the Genesis reading tells part of the story of what theologians call The Fall: prompted by the serpent, tempted by the lusciousness of the fruit, the earthlings disobey God's command and eat what is forbidden.  It's classic, a perfect theology case.  And maybe it was worth it, because the fruit was delicious, and we didn't die as God had said we would. (Not yet anyway; but it turns out that "yep, we are no longer immortal like the angels, now we do die after all). As I already suggested, the Genesis lesson stirs many questions for Bible students to debate as we sit out here in the cool shade on this balmy 77° Florida Gulf Coast winter morn...

  An abbreviated contemplation this morning, the 20th of February, first Friday in Lent 2026. Looking around me, reading the news, feeling every second of ninety years, but thinking how gratifying it would be to live into a next age when an American electorate would restore my confidence in its wisdom, judgment, and goodness.  Recently I watched online as an elderly German woman reminisced about factions in the Third Reich. She remembered the Wehrmacht as ordinary soldiers, and the Gestapo whose sole purpose was cruelty and fear.  Looking around, as I say, and observing that among humans - - throughout history humans who attain power use it for suppression, cruelty and fear. Power elements of the Third Reich, the Christian church throughout its history as long as the people gave it power over them, a nationalist Christianity in America today, ICE and the level of humanity it attracts, individuals who enjoy hurting people. My hope might be to outlive this era and reemerge ...

  Lent, second day, first Thursday. One way of "giving up for Lent" might be to free some of my wasted daily Time. Not that I always need to be productively engaged, which would be a conscience projection of my workaholic Navy years, but nowadays in total retirement I'm noticing that not all of my Time is fruitfully used. In fact, I waste a lot of Time every day, Time when I could be contemplating as a lenten discipline. It could be about different things, and it doesn't need to be totally serious, it might just be stopping for a moment or a bit to think about something that floats through my mind, eh? Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, last evening we went to church for our Ash Wednesday liturgy that includes not only reading from Matthew's gospel, receiving the imposition of ashes (and keeping the ash cross on our foreheads regardless that Jesus told us "wash your face" instead of going about showing how pious we are); but, perhaps primarily, saying together...

  and to dust you shall return. Wednesday, today is Ash Wednesday, meaning Lent has begun, this is the first day of Lent 2026. Forty years ago, or fifty, who'd've thought I'd still be here, much less thinking I still have sense enough to think. But "I think, therefore I AM," I guess.  The morning hour is just past seven-thirty and we're waiting until eight-twenty to head downstairs to the car and off to Lynn Haven to stop at Adams Pharmacy and then across the street and a couple of blocks north for Linda's dental appointment.  While she's in the dentist chair I'll be in the husband's waiting room, probably finishing this blogpost, assuming my brain doesn't drop off to sleep. I think I have a way to stop the syncope when I sense it coming on, at least it seems to be working for me. Otherwise the nausea then momentary blackout is quite bothersome.  Those who are as fortunate as I am to arrive at this extreme old age, a mover and shaker who is...

Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being? I will, with God's help. Grievously, America has become a nation that does not care about how people are treated - - fairly, justly, kindly, with dignity; and apparently most Americans approve of that. I hope not. Now and then something that someone writes is a dart, bullet, or arrow hitting the heart of an issue. This essay is exactly that.  T90      IS ANYTHING MORALLY OBVIOUS  ANYMORE? The public reaction to the violence in Minneapolis suggests that we  have held on to our sense of universal truths. By  Gal Beckerman February 16, 2026 The Trump administration has backed down in Minnesota. Last week, Tom Homan, the border czar, announced that the surge of federal agents into the state—3,000 officers—was ending. He framed this mostly as a mission accomplished: They had come to round up illegal immigrants, and the job was done. But even Homan had to g...