and now for something completely different...

I've been keeping up with my Bishop's youtube video journal of his experiences at the Lambeth Conference. It's been interesting to hear his perspective, while at the same time reading a blog from another bishop, the letter from the Bishop of Western Michigan, and of course the daily news reports. If I didn't know better I'd say they were all at different Lambeth Conferences. While looking for the next installment of Bishop Lee's on-line journal I happened upon another Jeffrey Lee.

This was a very nice (and surprisingly much needed) refreshment from the intensity of Lambeth-watching. The piece is entitled "Chopin Berceuse." Enjoy.

a sign from God

The people who have been putting the little catch phrases on our marquee out front like posting phrases that catch people's attention. They are particularly proud of the phrases that prompt phone calls to the church. I don't believe there's been heresy, or anything like that. Mostly it's the usual stuff like "Ch_rch. What's missing? You." They invited me to join them thinking of eye-catching phrases. This week I decided to put up something that relates to the upcoming sermon. I gave them the phrase and sent them on their way. They asked if I still wanted the service times left there.

I said yes.

This was the result:


















That would definitely prompt phone calls. Perhaps only liturgy geeks like myself would agree.

I had them take down the big-lettered service times and leave the small ones.

chasing sunrises

I left Chicago early this morning expecting to sit in rush hour traffic. There was one slow down on the LSD (that's Lake Shore Drive for you East Coasters) in a place I didn't expect. Of course the breakdown was in my far left lane! Once past that it was all open road. I don't know where they all went. The weather was perfect for driving. Northern Indiana's eastbound highway is all done with its construction. The westbound side simply didn't have any traffic on it. I guess some days you get that long black ribbon with the pretty white stitching, and some days you get bumper. Ah well.

Along with visiting with K, I had a nice evening with some of my friends from the D. Min. class. We went to the Celtic Knot - as usual. They were very interested in what I'm up to with this first position. I got some really nice compliments from them on the ideas I've got and the direction I want to go. One said the Diocese of Western Michigan was lucky to have me. Another said that of all the people he knows or has known right out of seminary, I'm the one most ready to be a rector. It was really encouraging to hear those things. One wanted to know if my thesis was in the library yet. He wants to read it. I told him to wait for the movie to come out. I wish I had more time to reconnect with more of them. The time I spent with them last summer was so important on so many levels. I'll miss them.

Now I'm back in BR once again. Laundry is done. Kitchen is clean. I wish I was further along on the sermon. I'm thinking I might incorporate Lambeth into it. We'll see what the Spirit has in mind.

chasing sunsets

I'm back in Ev'tn for a short bit. One of my mentors (I have several! she says with glee) is a D.Min. student. I met him last year when I took classes with them. He and the others are in their second year. *sniff* I'm so proud of them all (wipes away pretend tear). They're growing up so fast! Anyways, he e-mailed me to say that I was missed by the cohort and that I might think about visiting. I packed up my ruck sack and headed out west after services yesterday.

Northern Indiana is a mess with construction. There's no way to get around it either. I know I said I planned to take the Amtrak for Chicago visits, but it was kind of a last minute trip. Next time I will. We're not that far apart as the crow flies, but they are very different places. The weather in BR better. It's a lot less humid and milder - and then there's the traffic! BR experiences "rush minute." I think you get the idea. I'll probably depart late tonight or very early tomorrow to avoid some of that traffic congestion.

I get an extra visit with K on this unscheduled trip, which is of course the best part, and well worth fighting any traffic condition! We're both sharing the couch and some quiet time. Ahh... She'll make the trip to BR on Friday for our scheduled visitation time. This is the first time we've lived apart in the eleven years we've been together. I'm trying to make the most of it, but it's still hard. Even with Siamese Sasha bounding about and talking my ear off, the house in BR feels so empty. The parish is looking forward to meeting K for the first time next Sunday. They ask about her all the time! I can't wait to show her around our new hometown. But there's much to do between now and then, not the least of which is completing the next sermon so that I can have the weekend to spend with K as uninterrupted as possible. For now though, I will enjoy this stolen moment together.

flora and feather

While I begin my first few months here without K, I've been trying to establish good habits, which include taking my days off - for real. I had planned on taking Fridays every week, but last week's funeral planning put the kibosh on that. Turns out that the family requested that donations be made to the parish's Manna Pantry in lieu of floral gifts. That's nice. Perhaps that's what set my mind to flowers.

At midweek I met one of my mentors at a place called Rosie's Diner in Rockford, MI.
































A classic diner, it was featured in TV commercials for Bounty paper towels, starring Rosie the waitress (played by Nancy Walker).










It was also featured in a Food Network show. We had a great conversation. She will be a big support for me as I get to know the diocese. She's been here for a long time and knows pretty much everyone. And she's got good taste in lunch venues.

Then, on Friday, my day off, I went sailing! I love sailing, and I always seem to find someone with a boat. We met in GR at Rose's marina for an early morning sail.

















My friend's boat is the second mast from the left. It's called "Retreat," so that if no one can find him they can say he's "on Retreat." Get it? It's cute. I still like "ShipRector" better. We had lunch at Rose's on the outdoor patio afterwards, where we met our maitre d(uck) who greeted us as soon as we were seated. Her table begging skills would make a dog proud - even down to the pathetic eyes.

















No, a duck is not a flower. I know that. There were pond lilies though - but I didn't photograph those. Although later in the day also had nothing whatever to do with flowers, I did get to go boating again on Hamlin Lake in Ludington.


















My friends live near Indian Pete's Bayou, where swans, much coveted by folks where I come from, are actually a nuisance here, there's so many of them.

Flowers, cats, birds; this an interesting summer of patterns so far.

floras and felis

More interesting flowers. I took a different side street to work this morning and happened upon these. Those are blackberries and raspberries in the background. It's a little blurry, I know. The B'Berry camera is good in a pinch, but I really prefer the digital for quality. Isn't it amazing the lack of quality that becomes acceptable when convenience comes into play? (That'll sure preach!) Anyhoo... if there is a friendly botanist nearby who might be able to identify these flowers, he's most welcome to impress us with his vast knowledge.


















The have-a-heart trap is back. The cat's out of the bag - so to speak. Mary knows about the replacement feline. Now they're just mocking her.

















Kitten-little was learning to sing last night. Siamese Sasha was unimpressed. He really prefers Vivaldi. There's catgut, and then there's catgut.

of fur, flowers, and filth

Mary, my neighbor I told you about a few postings ago, had a have-a-heart trap set out to capture one of the strays for relocating to a cat sanctuary. The trap is gone, so I can only assume that she caught one. Today I discovered the lovely and relatively friendly tortoise lounging on the picnic table, where the trap kept vigil for so long. She (I'm assuming) was lovingly spooning a kitten version of her. When I left about a half-hour earlier, the kitten was bouncing all around the yard, as they are want to do. Now the dear thing is all tuckered out. And, for all Mary's efforts to relocate one stray cat, another has taken its place. Ah well. The darn thing is so cute anyways.















(If you look closely you'll see two sets of ears. This was as close as I could get to them.)


















These lovelies grow outside my back door. I've no idea what they are, but they're pretty. Unfortunately for those us with phobias to bees, they are frequented by every kind of of flying, buzzing insect all day long. My neighbors must think I have a massive, full-body tick when they buzz and startle me on my way out in the mornings. I hate bees. But I like flowers.


















I call this picture, "Living with Murphy." The heating registers here are all on the floor - as opposed to baseboard models. Not only that, they're in less-than-ideal locations. This is one of two in the master bedroom. It's right next to the dresser where I keep my earrings and other jewelry. It's not a matter of if, but of when I'll drop a backing, or a stone, or a collar pin down there. It's all full of dirt and debris and probably creepy-crawly things - like the basement, which I also don't spend time in if I don't really have to. Maybe K will fish stuff out for me when Mr. Murphy comes a-calling'.

I wondered when

That didn't take long. I've got my first funeral next week. My parish mobilizes quite well. I made one phone call to find out who handles the hospitality, and just like that, they're ready to roll when the final details come in tomorrow afternoon. The family doesn't care for a Eucharist service, so I don't have to find a priest to consecrate. I can cover the liturgy myself. I've got it almost complete. I also need some of those details that I'll get tomorrow. The family and I are meeting at the funeral home here in BR. The family member has already been cremated, and I believe they have a plot nearby. I wondered how long I would have before my first funeral. I didn't think it would be quite this soon.

nooooooo.......

I realize I've been setting myself up for this. I really do know better than to trust technology with everything. Still, the BlackBerry is such cool technology, it's hard to not keep everything on it. No, it wasn't stolen or lost. What I wanted to do was clean up my notes page. I put everything on it, and it needed some weeding. I highlighted a section of notes with the intention of deleting just that section. B'Berry deleted the whole page! I had my notes from last night's Vestry meeting there. I had some addresses that I hadn't yet put into the address book. There were details of people I wanted to remember. Directions to places I still need to get to. All. Gone. (head hangs low)

It could be worse. I've only been on the job for a week-and-a-half. Some of it I do have backed up elsewhere. But still. Rats!

Lesson: highlighting a selection of text to delete doesn't work the same way on a B'Berry as it does on a work processing application. Try to remember that next time.

woo-hoo!

What an awesome first Sunday! We had almost a full house. The Warden commented that it's not usually that full. I told her we should start getting used to that. The sermon was very well received. I've got a few more parishioners to visit in the coming week. One person approached me wanting to join. She has two daughters who will come with lots of Youth Group experience. One young person in the parish is really into TECs' youth events and opportunities, and is going to Texas soon for a gathering there. She wants to give a presentation on it when she returns. We have a Vestry member who is still in high school. Good stuff. We also had the new Methodist minister with us today. He's doing the same thing I did, visiting with the other churches in town before starting in his. We'll get together for coffee later this week. He's about my age. I told him about the ministerial association that meets on Thursdays, so I expect I'll see him fairly often. We had just one service today. Next week we'll go back to two.

I'm so charged up. I must have written this entry three times with all the typ-os. My hands can't keep up. I should go for a long bike ride to burn off some of this energy.

how nice

I met a local horse owner today. She owns four of these. They're not Palominos. They're a smaller mountain horse from Europe. These are pure breeds, but I can't remember the breed name. Beautiful, no?


















My neighbor sent these over to wish me a good holiday. She says to notice they're red, white, and blue. I've got a great next door neighbor. Bit of a wild child she is, and she'll readily admit that herself - I'm not speaking out of turn here. She's a biker, with lots of biker friends I hope to meet in the near future. She's an animal lover. There are several cats in the neighborhood, left behind by students who have since moved on. She's been trying to befriend them and get them to a nearby cat sanctuary. She calls me "sweet cheeks." I think she may have forgotten my name. She watches the house when I'm out of town too. She's one of those rare people with a heart as big as all get out.

off to a good start

In these past few first days I've met several clergy from this deanery as well as some of the other ministers here in BR. I'd like to work with my nearest TEC neighbor on convention planning. We had some good brainstorming on that. Got some time yet; our convention isn't until April. On the local front, one BR pastor is retiring at the end of August. We looked at each other today and commented on his departure and my arrival as a changing of the guard of sorts. There was a general hope for young person to follow him. The local Salvation Army is also getting a new leader in his mid-30s. We talked a little more about the ways we can all work together here to accomplish common goals. There's a lot to be done.

Over coffee with a parishioner this morning I talked about how I saw outreach missions as ever-widening concentric circles: local, regional, national, and so forth. I also described the geometric concept of mission activity that I came up with a couple years ago. The model looks a little like a child's toy jack. The center point, from which all the posts radiate, represents the core values or mission of the parish. The end of each of the radiating posts represents a mission activity. Each mission is directly related to the core value, and related to every other mission activity. My parishioner got the idea immediately. He said, so there won't be random small groups going off to do their own projects. Exactly. Nothing is random. It's all cohesive. Everything emanates from, and points back to, the unique identity and purpose of the parish. I could see in his eyes that he got it. He sat up a little straighter, talked a little faster. I'm thrilled. As if I wasn't already chomping at the bit with all this congregational development stuff in my head, now I've got someone who gets how I see the applications. Steady girl. Steady.

I'm working tomorrow in the morning - visiting parishioners, and making sure Sunday is squared away. Then I've been invited to a BBQ and fireworks.

first day

The morning was slow. I did some more puttering about the office. I got my vestments put in the sacristy. I'm going to change the placement of my office furniture so my future seating area has more room. Right now the desk dominates the room.

I went to a clericus in GR in the afternoon. There were fewer clergy there than usual. They don't usually meet in the summer. I had a nice chat over coffee with a rector who's parish is a few towns away from BR. I think he might be my closest neighbor. Good times.

On my way home I decided to find the Amtrak station in GR. I plan to take the train on my visits to Ev'tn. I think I can park there overnight. There aren't any signs that talk about parking though.

I still can't get the internet in my office. I know there's a dedicated line somewhere, but I can't find it. I think I need a different cable - ethernet-to-phone maybe. To e-mail my administrator something, I had to walk down to the trusty coffee shop to do it. Tomorrow morning I'll swing by Radio Shack to see what they can do for me.

So, day one is in the history books. I didn't screw up anything and nobody got hurt.