I’m preaching this Sunday. It’s a very simple sermon. The theme is that God can call, and make use of, imperfect people. Then I basically tell the story of Joseph (the Genesis one, not Jesus’ daddy) and of Peter, highlighting the ways that they were not so perfect. Conclusion: If God could make use of these guys, maybe he can make use of us, too. This afternoon I experienced this principal in action. I can’t preach it, so I thought I’d blog it. (more…)
I’m trying to catch up (by reading through the archives of the exhaustive and delightful Thinking Anglicans website) on GAFCON, the latest gathering of Episcopal and Anglican conservatives who are mad as hell and aren’t gonna take it anymore. I’ve only gotten up to GAFCON’s official start date, so I don’t have very fully-formed ideas about it yet. I’m hoping I develop some soon, since I’ve been asked to have an opinion in public (not so much on GAFCON, but on the whole Anglican kerfuffle) sometime soon. (more…)
Best new line to try in a crowded singles bar: “I love you. Can my spit be friends with your spit?” (From Zag, trying to delay naptime with strategic cuddliness.)
The move went well. We had good help at both ends. (more…)
I have been offered a job. A good job in a wonderful parish. But I have plane tickets for visits to two other parishes – one this weekend, one the week after next. This is complicated. I need prayers for discernment, wisdom, clarity, peace of mind, all that good stuff.
And I promise I’ll tell you something as soon as I have anything official to tell.
Apologies for the radio silence, but it’s been quite a week. Friday a week ago I spent rushing to get all necessary paperwork into the hands of my diocesan Standing Committee. Saturday a friend was ordained here at Hogwarts. Sunday I preached twice in the morning at my Massachusetts church, then flew down to North Carolina and preached at my sponsoring congregation, which conveniently meets on Sunday evenings (a terrific idea, IMHO). Then I met with my Commission on Ministry and Standing Committee on Monday, and then flew home again. It was a great trip, actually – saw lots of good friends at my old church, which just keeps getting cooler; and I got to see my friend E and her son, who has crossed that mysterious baby-to-kid line… and the diocesan committees were pleased with me, so I’ll be ordained to the transitional diaconate in June. Yay!
Zag had deeply ambivalent feelings about our friend V’s ordination. He’s very fond of V. When we got to the part of the service where the priests all gather around to lay hands on her, I snuck up close with him so we could watch, but he started saying repeatedly, “I don’t like V to be a priest! I don’t like V to be a priest!” Then he burst into noisy tears, so I whisked him out of the church and off to someplace where we could talk. He told me again, through his tears, “I don’t like V to be a priest!” I asked him what priests do. He said, “They talk in microphones!” … which is funny, of course, but I think was his way of saying that they’re set apart from everybody else. They wear funny clothes and don’t get to sit with their families. Obviously, Zag and I need to start talking this over. He cheered up about V after getting to hug her a couple of times and see that she’s still the same V, but it might take a little more processing when it’s Zag’s own Mama….
While playing in the sandbox this afternoon, Zag asked me,
“Are you mad because some enemies killed Jesus?”
If this were a GOE “Coffee Hour Question” (a genre that had died out by the time I took the GOEs in January), you’d get 50 words to answer this… and, in light of this audience, no fancy theological terms, please.
Anyone want to take a stab? 
It’s a good day. My evening class is cancelled, CPE is over, and a parish I like is maybe interested in hiring me. No official news yet, don’t ask! but it feels good to have one serious possibility. I keep hoping to hear more from another parish/rector that I also like, and trying to resist doing that kind of “why haven’t they called” overthinking – maybe there’s been some kind of freak storm? maybe tonsillitis? maybe their email server has been down… for a week and a half? Instead I remind myself that things move slowly sometimes in churches, and try to be patient. There’s quite enough to think about in the here and now, really.
We went to the campus Community Eucharist yesterday evening – our whole family somehow managed to get out of the house and into the chapel, amazing. (more…)
Our church, St. James Porter Square, uses a wonderful African-inspired sung version of the Lord’s Prayer that ends (unsurprisingly), “Forever and ever, Amen.”
Today while dawdling over the last of his dinner, Zag started singing it: “Whatever, whatever, Amen.”
In other news, the job search continues. I have leads but no news. Will keep you posted.
Soundtrack: If you don’t own Kate Campbell’s “The Last Song,” go to iTunes immediately and buy it. It is the best possible Maundy Thursday song.
It’s the end of a surprisingly lovely day. I have a lot of work bearing down on me, but somehow I convinced myself to take the morning off, and Zag and I went over to wander around Watertown. (more…)
Soundtrack for this post: “Take A Chance On Me.” Yes, Abba. In the right mood, a little Abba isn’t such a bad thing.
I’m job searching just as hard as I can. I think I sent out four applications today. (more…)