Uphill idealist

“All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.” ―  Julian of Norwich It's the Eve of the second Sunday in Advent and "Peace" is our point of focus for the coming week, Julian's words meet us in a time where peace may seem far off... For refugees wandering... For victims of senseless violence... For those without a place to call home... For those suffering sickness and grief... it seems crazy to repeat her words. Some may even go so to say the her words are foolishness. But, there are some words we need to repeat - perhaps even more in times like these.Julian's words mean to assure each heart that in the midst of all circumstances that Jesus the Christ is always present. 1 Corinthians 1:18 speaks of how some might perceive the gospel message to be foolishness... " For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." Julian of ...

Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. One of the amazing and curious parts of serving as a Vicar is having the honor of leading worship - specifically communion. From the great thanksgiving to the preface to the words of institution and the invitation to the table; all of me becomes caught up in this beautiful and mysterious sacrament. Each Sunday as I pass out the bread and say, "The body of Christ - given for you." I'm amazed to hear these words coming from out of my mouth. It was something I longed to share with others for so long and now, suddenly, it's a weekly part of the worship experience that I have the honor to help facilitate. This is an amazing fact. There are times, in spite of my internal wonderment, that this practice starts to become more familiar and comfortable - like this is the place I'm meant to be. Then there are time that the wonderment of ...

Just a few days ago, a robin greeted me in an unusual way. As I opened my car door something brushed against my leg. I turned to see a robin hop into the front seat of the car and  settled on the front dash. Image is a cross-stitch that translates from Greek as "Good Morning" created by Penelope Panagopoulos The bird did not seem scared of me - but was looking for a way to head back into the beautiful sunshine and open sky. With a little help the robin made its way out into the parking lot and flew away. But after it flew away, I could not help but wonder if  this feathered friend had a message for me... In some native american traditions, robins are viewed as messengers carrying a message "Peace". This message is one that I'm happy to receive. Peace can hop into our lives when we least expect it - if we are willing to open to door.

Image found at: achurch4me Story of missing puzzle piece – When my daughter was almost one and a half, I was working on redecorating her bedroom. I bought some bright colored fabric and sewed some curtains and bought a new comforter for her new toddler bed. To complete the decorations I found a puzzle that matched the design of her curtains and spent many evenings working on it. I filled in the sky, the houses and all the people in this colorful parade scene. But when I got to placing the last piece of the puzzle, it was nowhere to be found. I searched our apartment from top to bottom, emptied the trash, a vacuumed every corner. I even checked the vacuum cleaner bag – but the missing piece was nowhere to be found. I had planned to seal the finished puzzle with puzzle glue, frame and hang it on my daughter’s bedroom wall. But now, my plans - along with the last piece of the puzzle were lost. For a day or so I sulked about the missing puzzle piece. I considered going a...

Anger is a very real and volatile emotion. I do not want to discount those that have been mistreated or hurt as a result of it. Being on the receiving end of anger generally isn't pleasant.  Image found at Anger control. However,  d o not mistake anger as hatred. Anger is a secondary emotion that can come from a place of frustration, concern or deep care for people. It is an emotional vehicle that is misused all too often, but can also be rooted in love and be a means of defeating injustice and hatred. Anger is a secondary emotion. It is important to seek the root of it - ugly or beautiful; if you are going to move towards any resolution or peace. It is important to learn ways - healthy ways - for everyone to deal with anger. It's an emotion that we all experience from time to time. So instead of being the "elephant" in the room of relationships, lets give anger a chance to count to 10 and take a step toward restoration. For some hints on how to deal wi...

It's been and eventful week in my neck of the woods. I was in charge of organizing and getting a crew to decorate a Christmas Parade Float for our city's annual Christmas Parade, I'm continuing the work on a the large mural project and getting close to wrapping it up, and it was my son's 13th birthday. Sleeping with bread is one way for me to look back and count the small joys or bread of life and see the bounty that I'd often time miss. If if glazed over the small joys, I'd spend most of my time recalling and retelling about the times of feeling overwhelmed, overwrought, or frustrated. There are times in this last week that I began to feel lost in the dark and creepy woods, like Hansel and Gretel from that childhood storybook. Like Hansel and Gretel, I have to get beyond the easy fix of candy houses and daydreams and move to the place of leaving a following the bread crumbs of sustenance that are scattered throughout my life. In this last week especially, I cou...

There are many days I never take the time to sit down and write a "to-do list", usually because I feel to busy to write it all down. Lists, like I said, are not ones I always take the time to write. Somehow, though when I do write them - I seem to spend less time feeling frantic and wondering - "What did I forget?" Somehow, on Monday I arrived at my day off with only a few obligations and had some time to do some much needed shopping for an upcoming trip to New Orleans and for my son's summer camp week. The night before, I'd cleared off the kitchen counter and sorted the mail and found several things that needed to be attended to - so as I got ready for bed, I began to make a mental list of what had to happen in the morning so I could get all I needed done, well, done. Check. As I got up the next day I found my papers, wrote some checks, filled out some forms, sealed papers into the envelopes, and laid them on the counter to be mailed on my way to go shoppin...

Cartoon from Toothpaste for Dinner. No complaints here. I'm pressing onto the reality that I had had some serious help today in preparing for the fundraiser breakfast and luncheon for Sunday. I keep looking around and on my to do list and I see that most everything I was worrying about is done, assigned, or good to go. One, two, three, four, five, six of the eight student that the fundraiser is for came to help and one, two, three, four who are not attending the trip came to chip in just because. Tables are set, eggs are cracked, and the rigatoni is ready to bake. Thanks to the two moms who assisted as well. Usually the night before such events I full of nervous energy, tonight I'm relaxed. In fact the most relaxed I've felt in a long while. This fact is one I'd like to happen more often in my reality. If you think of us on Sunday - stop by and have some good eats. If you can't make it here - say a prayer that it all goes well. Breakfast is 9am-10:30am with scramble...

and make our hearts dance.

Photo by Beth On my way to the office this morning, I passed by Burger King and was taken aback by the advert I saw on their sign. "Try our Angry Whopper - it's the hottest burger in town!" Never mind that their unusual burger's name did catch my attention of my early morning fogginess. I understand that the ad campaign is a gimmick, but all day I was bothered by the spirit of it. Does the world really need to be consuming and consumed by more anger? Forgive my idealism, but why on earth would we want to consume something that stokes the fires of anger simmering within us? If the name if the burger isn't enough, you can go to Burger King's website to send "Angry-grams" to whomever happens to tick you off. Sorry BK, this ad campaign is just bad form! Yes it's a sandwich. Yes it's supposed to be funny, but in a day where violence, war, and destruction rage on, I think a peace burger would be a better option. Maybe then it would need to be a ...

The last weekend of November marks the beginning of the Advent, setting time for all of us to expectantly wait for the blessings of the Christmas season. While there are many opportunities this upcoming month to worship, serve and celebrate with friends and family; I’d like to suggest that this Advent season we should consider ways of setting a pace for peace. When researching the word pace, I came across an image of a flag used by an Italian peace organization established in 1961. I discovered that the Italian word for “pace” is our word for “peace”. "The Italian PEACE flag was inspired by the flag of Anglo-Saxon pacifists who marched in Aldermaston for an anti-nuclear protest, led by Bertrand Russell. Mr. Capitini asked some housewives from Perugia, who were friends of him, to sew with all possible speed some colored stripes to form a flag to be shown during the march. The women choose to sew the background of the flag in the colors of the rainbow in remembrance of the story of ...

This gritty but inspiring article of an single obgyn's efforts to restore hope and healing to victimized women and children of the Congo. It will open your eyes to their great social, medical and counseling needs - and make you want to take action to help. To read this article, click on "Women left for dead" . Warning: this article contains some discussion and topics that may be upsetting. How you can help! The women of Eastern Congo, V-Day and UNICEF—the latter acting on behalf of United Nations Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict—are launching a new campaign to urge an end to the femicide and raise money for women’s groups in the Congo. You can… * Write a letter addressed to His Excellency, the President of the Democrat... Read Moreic Republic of the Congo, Joseph Kabila Kabange; demand that he take action to stop the attacks on women. Send it to U.N. Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict, P.O. Box 3862, New York, NY 10163, and it will be delivered to Kabila...