tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119541562024-03-13T11:14:42.949-04:00Things Seen and UnseenA priest's ramblings on life and work.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger91125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11954156.post-87498062405953492832009-10-24T01:02:00.003-04:002009-10-24T01:20:38.337-04:00HospiceI cannot say enough good things about <a href="http://www.lssliving.org/InHomeServices/HospiceCare.aspx"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">LSS</span> hospice.</a> They have been so kind and so helpful to my mother. Until we came to the final stage of her cruel dementia, I had not even realized that Hospice was an OPTION for dementia care. My mother had become dramatically more lethargic over the summer. That wonderful Alzheimer's "Zen" sense of being relational in the moment where you could hug and be hugged or laugh and be laughed with even though you know that she might not know who you are or what the joke was had gone.<div><br /></div><div>We knew her interest in eating had gone when I found a bar of chocolate in my purse and tried to share it with her. Even six months before she had been sneaking into the pantry to steal chocolate chip cookies, eating her dessert first. When I saw she could not register "chocolate" I knew that this horrible disease had robbed her of everything at last. </div><div><br /></div><div>But I did not know that Alzheimer's patients are eligible for hospice. Our nurse talks to me every time there is a "change." The intake worker was very helpful and explained to me what is covered and what is not covered. I was amazed by how many things can be treated under the heading "comfort." Flu shots, for example, because having the flu is so unpleasant. Broken bones, for example, can be set. The difference, as I understand it, is if a hospice patient falls and breaks a hip, they will go to the ER and get stabilized but they probably will not get some prosthetic device involving titanium or whatever... Antibiotics for a respiratory infection will happen, ICU on a vent will not. Their goal is to make her last weeks comfortable.</div><div><br /></div><div> I didn't realize that you can "renew" your eligibility for hospice. I suppose there are people who have miraculous cures and cease to be eligible. But sometimes people who seem to their <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">MD's</span> to have less than six months to live surprise their doctors but if the MD still thinks it likely that they will die in six months, they get an extension. </div><div><br /></div><div>In our case, however, we are looking at weeks not months. I have felt amazingly well cared for by <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">LSS</span> and think that N. has been well cared for, too. And the staff o<a href="http://www.lssliving.org/MeramecBluffs.aspx">f <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Meramec</span> Bluffs </a>have been lovely, too. They gently introduced the idea that it might be hospice time. They have kept me up to date on her condition the whole time. And they have been very sweet when we have been there, knowing that we are skating on the thin ice between normalcy and grief. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11954156.post-14867128615729870242009-03-16T17:49:00.002-04:002009-03-16T17:59:46.226-04:00Dolce Via is BackThe Dolce Via is BACK and JUST AS GOOD as I remembered it. It has only been closed for two months but they seemed very long.<br /><br />The website shows the restaurant before they spent two months working on it. It is less cluttered now but just as funky looking and the prices appear to be unchanged. The egg scrambles and deliciously spicy little cubes of potato hash are still fantastic. The blackberry raspberry fruit scones which first lured us the the bakery cafe are still absolutely perfect. They have lost the vintage kitchen table but the cafe still has an eclectic look. The chairs are still kinda dingy and not all that comfortable but adequate. There is still a play area for kids and a big cooler for looking at cakes. And the people who wait on you are still perfectly charming. On Sunday there seemed to be many many babies and small children which was lovely. It is come as you are, whoever you are, as long as you are willing to pay what it costs for the best ingredients carefully prepared and presented. It is at Taylor and Arco.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11954156.post-6829218052651751232008-09-26T00:22:00.002-04:002008-09-26T00:34:52.930-04:00MDG'sI promised to blog about the MDG's as part of this day of prayer and fasting for the MDG's while the UN confers about them at the General Assembly. I spent most of the day at the Lutheran School of Theology's workshop on communion between the Methodists and the Lutherans and our interim eucharistic sharing with the UMC. We focused on the document This Holy Mystery, a kind of guide to UMC understanding of th eucharist. The document speaks about how the eucharist should drive us to care of the needs of the poor and to be missional in some other ways. It is distressing that the General Assembly is being overshadowed by the meltdown in the US economy and its threat to the global economy. The poorer we all feel iln the "first world" the less likely we are to be generous to those in other parts of the world.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11954156.post-34366525928707534792008-08-23T21:41:00.003-04:002008-08-23T21:51:07.508-04:00Hospital artSo Thursday I went to the emergency room of St <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Alexius</span> Hospital. I walked there from the main hospital entrance on Broadway. And this involves going along a hallway which has a series of roughly carved wooden panels with figures on them, people holding and touching other people. I thought at first that they were stations of the cross. They looked a lot like examples of "contemporary" stations I've seen. But they were not: each one represented the ways in which over the history of humanity people have helped people to resume breathing. One should a man holding another man upside down, another showed a man rolling another over a barrel so that the barrel would put pressure on the chest and force him to breathe out, another showed a man stepping down on the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">patient's</span> chest and so on. Each one had a brief description of the procedure depicted and its technique and purpose. It was a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">surprising</span> display, donated by some patron of the hospital. One of many interesting diversions in a busy day.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11954156.post-21355678853563520022008-07-31T11:46:00.003-04:002008-07-31T12:00:36.775-04:00What's new in the Parish Hall<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCoSlS3UvmI7BE44kh9U0nsGatZSNW6CXHvXtZWMAsI40ZSUdD8-gwTSQSXYVSfn-3QnMFROjsKB5TsO9LoAVq3LxIvPlXhCfDQH6maKhI45GPYEsEGNXf3OXUuEdwlAthNl_b_g/s1600-h/IMG_0576.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 237px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCoSlS3UvmI7BE44kh9U0nsGatZSNW6CXHvXtZWMAsI40ZSUdD8-gwTSQSXYVSfn-3QnMFROjsKB5TsO9LoAVq3LxIvPlXhCfDQH6maKhI45GPYEsEGNXf3OXUuEdwlAthNl_b_g/s320/IMG_0576.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229206618537142242" border="0" /></a><br />So this past Sunday we had a special parish meeting to let people know what is up with the various property projects. It was the debut appearance of our new projector and screen and sound system. Our senior warden did a great job of putting a power point presentation together and offering a lively and humorous and informative narration along with it.<br /><br />Meanwhile, the property changes were all around us: the painters were due on Monday and so our secretary had moved everything into the Parish<br />Hall and on Friday and Saturday people pitched in to move books and other stuff out of the rector's office. It looks as if the offices are almost done except for the trim and the parish hall is almost done. So gradually we will put things back. In my case, we will be trying to get things better than normal, since I have quite an accumulation of papers which probably need to be weeded out: every conference and workshop I have attended, every diocesan convention, that kind of stuff. Louis, our roving photographer, took some pix of people at the meeting (note Ruth <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Proehl</span> on the screen) as well as some pictures of the offices empty and waiting for their paint job.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpNvbpZYdJHbWAX9XwNq04NkS7mUGe2QvHdt7C4S3rjQoyS-Lurk2KMk1kvrIxVs83DZMy6JkA5CogPfSsNPXf4fObHdgoFaRKC5wU6nY_iHr-hwo1shEZjvXlHlk0rb8IMMklYw/s1600-h/IMG_0572.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpNvbpZYdJHbWAX9XwNq04NkS7mUGe2QvHdt7C4S3rjQoyS-Lurk2KMk1kvrIxVs83DZMy6JkA5CogPfSsNPXf4fObHdgoFaRKC5wU6nY_iHr-hwo1shEZjvXlHlk0rb8IMMklYw/s320/IMG_0572.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229206611494556258" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11954156.post-41171454841161139132008-07-09T00:53:00.002-04:002008-07-09T20:18:33.718-04:00RantSo, the C of E has voted for women bishops, by a pretty impressive majority. And they have declined to offer any elaborate "flying bishops" scheme to respect the consciences of those who can't possibly cope with having woman bishop. It is actually pretty amazing. You can read more about it <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article4289994.ece">here. </a><br /><br />Meanwhile Tuesday a.m. on <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92319386">Morning Edition,</a> Renee Montagne was talking to our man in London Rob Gifford about the threat of schism in the C of E and then she asked the British commentator if this controversy had anything to do with the split over homosexuality. And I wanted to yell into the radio OF COURSE IT DOES. The commentator thought that the gay issue is more contentious but that is because he was probably still in grade school when women were ordained in the Episcopal Church and doesn't remember. (And speaking of great "church destroying" cataclysms of the past, we were talking at lectionary group about the <a href="http://www.episcopalarchives.org/Afro-Anglican_history/exhibit/specialgc/index.php">General Convention Special Program</a> which caused a huge brouhaha that some people in the Episcopal Church are STILL not over... ) And he thought the homosexuality conversation was a bigger deal because it was about morality.<br /><br />But here is what I think: opposition to women's ordination and opposition to gay bishops (by which people mean openly gay partnered bishops) is about fear of women and fear of sexual impulses and feelings. Remember in the bad old days before we ordained women in ECUSA how men would say things like "a woman at the altar would just be too distracting", meaning perhaps that she would cause (straight) men to be distracted by sexual fantasies. And an awful lot of the abusive language directed against gay men throughtout the centuries has been about how "feminine" they are. They either don't act like "real men" or they inspire in "real men" feelings of attraction which are distressing and shameful to them. In other words: women remind men of sex, gay men remind men of women and of sex. Homophobia and misogyny are closely linked. (And for the most part, people forget Lesbians even exist in these conversations, I guess because whether they are straight or lesbian women are mainly defined, certainly for much of Christian tradition, as not "real men.") I don't understand why women (or men who fail the "real man" test in some way) are so scary to the dominant white male culture. I don't understand why people feel that God needs to be protected from women, from GLBT people and from conflict of any kind. I don't understand why those who are not persuaded that ordaining GLBT people or women (L or T or straight) to the pr0iesthood and the episcopate feel they must elevate this issue to evidence of general all round heterodoxy.<br /><br />But I'm getting tired of reading about it. I feel especially tired when I hear and read Bishop Wright, saying of Gafcon (who thought THAT was an attractive acronym for anything) that while AMERICANS deserve censure and external control "the situation in England is quite different."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11954156.post-5489794111813636072008-07-01T15:51:00.003-04:002008-07-01T16:10:45.490-04:00Episcopalians at Pride 2008<embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Flydia.speller%2Falbumid%2F5218133103371972641%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss%26authkey%3D-t3-fe7j1uY" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" height="192" width="288"></embed><br />A little band of St Markans walked in the Pride Parade on Sunday and with others staffed the booth for a couple of hours, handing out flyers and stickers and sharing the good news of the Episcopal Church's welcome for all. There were lots of people from Trinity and from St John's and from Holy Communion and from Transfiguration Lake St Louis and from Advent and from the Cathedral. It is amazing to be at the booth and to hear people come up and say, "I wish MY church were here" or "Thank you for being here, it is great to see mainline churches here." In my judgement, St Mark's isn't quite ready to cancel 10 a.m. church and all go to "Mass in the Grass" in the park at 10:30 on Sunday, but some St Markans were there and so were about 150 other people and one heckler and everything went very well. We dashed up there following our service.<br /><br />The slideshow is of the parade. We walked behind a fabulous team of drag cheerleaders which had very perky music. The clergy got to ride in a great car belonging to a St John's member. Despite our best efforts the reviewing stand announced us as the Metropolitan Community Church. It also poured with rain for a few critical moments but then reverted to being amazingly warm again. Becket Clark walked up front with the banner and synchronized thurifers, doing a very complicated dance as we marched along.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11954156.post-77730123206248406962008-05-09T12:11:00.007-04:002008-05-09T16:31:33.526-04:00Saint Mark's gets out in the Neighborhood<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMqv2-Gd62tTuDQo-e6bxahmO9aYtHpDHXdnSKpDs10TaYN4LcwMtZpQLaO1FawCC3mJA8aBsZlbGv-faA7U0ssMz-cdxmu-JWl0bX1UqhHluICWtiOg1gFf0oCUTSJyH8PMEHaA/s1600-h/kauppsatperk.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMqv2-Gd62tTuDQo-e6bxahmO9aYtHpDHXdnSKpDs10TaYN4LcwMtZpQLaO1FawCC3mJA8aBsZlbGv-faA7U0ssMz-cdxmu-JWl0bX1UqhHluICWtiOg1gFf0oCUTSJyH8PMEHaA/s320/kauppsatperk.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5198468491243420786" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd3SvWWBMXGTcwyU3Qsk2A1zIjws2O3FQ9BRaJYbIt8ATKMerNgCXpBCNTyN8Q7yCyx-4QiJYFQbwZcDnInc5DyeLpGvisDW-aWM18FFAnJaPu4KP1K8C-q-T-0IKTrdF8YovXUA/s1600-h/volunteersat+perk.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd3SvWWBMXGTcwyU3Qsk2A1zIjws2O3FQ9BRaJYbIt8ATKMerNgCXpBCNTyN8Q7yCyx-4QiJYFQbwZcDnInc5DyeLpGvisDW-aWM18FFAnJaPu4KP1K8C-q-T-0IKTrdF8YovXUA/s320/volunteersat+perk.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5198467889947999330" border="0" /></a><br />Late April and early May have found St Markans out and about in our neighborhood. On April 24, we hosted <a href="http://www.diningoutforlife.com/">Dining out for Life</a> at the <a href="http://www.murdochperk.net/">Murdoch Perk </a>during Breakfast and Lunch. Lydia and Marylen and Jeff were there when they opened. Jack came shortly thereafter and stayed all morning. Kathi and Sue were also there and so was Louis who took fabulous pics. The Perk gets a pretty steady flow of customers throughout the day, which is nice. St Markans and friends and colleagues of many of us swelled the numbers so that the restaurant was positively CROWDED. Everyone was receptive to our invitation to take the donation envelope and the red ribbon sticker and it was a great day. I don't know how much the Murdoch Perk and its customers contributed to <a href="http://www.stlefa.org/">St Louis Effort for AIDS</a>, but we had a great time and had lots of envelopes to turn in.<br /><br />Then on Saturday May 3, 20 St Markans, called forth by our deacon the Rev. Marylen Stansbery, worked alongside students, parents and teachers at the<a href="http://www.slps.org/school/middle_2.htm"> Busch AAA School</a>, raking leaves and aerating lawns and planting flowers. Ms Shipps, our liaison, gave us a tour of the school. It is full of fascinating examples of student work on the walls and is clean and well cared for. SLPS has fewer resources for caring for the grounds so in consultation with the school <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUaro4NAvbP41L1N8oEYTFiFHnrqy4vw0mgKdcJMP5bSqwHDTRmlXFiz1uzFH6LyBNlIOYZ4YIqNVd1DDFTaacCqs4bkvD-gJAkGe1XQU7-QznDSYN9qga-wpjsJ0kJKcpaBP53w/s1600-h/louis+1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUaro4NAvbP41L1N8oEYTFiFHnrqy4vw0mgKdcJMP5bSqwHDTRmlXFiz1uzFH6LyBNlIOYZ4YIqNVd1DDFTaacCqs4bkvD-gJAkGe1XQU7-QznDSYN9qga-wpjsJ0kJKcpaBP53w/s320/louis+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5198471871382682754" border="0" /></a>Marylen chose this as our first project in our partnership with Busch. Our youth confirmands were there, with members of their families and others. James Lattimer, a former St Mark's member, now living in another city, happened to hear about this project on a visit to St Mark's and came back to help out because he had been a student at Busch when the building opened.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpWFosS5XOC7EN3LAoB8PYco_bZUXQBkONY3VKXyltey9FqofoDA4Eh5jhgaGlAl9xzWD-ROha85ShXg2cfHWUVuUNyG8pAwzEhyphenhyphenC3Izw3oVZKQ-F6_70jhQ0J9B5xkSF5YA7B6A/s1600-h/louis+two.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpWFosS5XOC7EN3LAoB8PYco_bZUXQBkONY3VKXyltey9FqofoDA4Eh5jhgaGlAl9xzWD-ROha85ShXg2cfHWUVuUNyG8pAwzEhyphenhyphenC3Izw3oVZKQ-F6_70jhQ0J9B5xkSF5YA7B6A/s320/louis+two.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5198478275178921106" border="0" /></a><br />There will be a return visit to seed and fertilize.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11954156.post-37799823222224829362008-02-24T22:42:00.001-05:002008-02-24T22:42:51.305-05:00St Mark's Winter Slideshow<div style="width:480px; text-align: center;"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://wmg.photobucket.com/pbwidget.swf?pbwurl=http://wmg.photobucket.com/albums/v248/mommaisawesome/Winter 2008 St Marks/d7dbe596.pbw" height="360" width="480"><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/redirect/album?action=slideshow&landing=/slideshows&type=3" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/slideshows/btn.gif" style="float:left;border-width: 0;" ></a><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v248/mommaisawesome/Winter%202008%20St%20Marks/?action=view¤t=d7dbe596.pbw" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/slideshows/btn_viewallimages.gif" style="float:left;border-width: 0;" ></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11954156.post-57161846094861698822008-02-02T19:05:00.000-05:002008-02-03T00:38:47.457-05:00Archived memoryOn Friday I called Jim, who has been our house/dog sitter while I've been in Baltimore, from the airport to confer about the snow. And when I looked him up in the contacts section of my Treo, the name that came up just below him was Doug McCreight. Doug died two weeks ago, he had been a priest of the diocese for decades and for a short time lived near enough to St Mark's to worship with us here. For some reason, I can't manage to erase him.<br />If I scroll the length of my Palm address book, there are quite a few people who have died whose records linger on in my database. Marvin, a friend from Bethlehem, our choir director and organist more than twenty years ago, still shares a record with his wife Polly, even though he died a couple of years ago. Fay Shelton is still there at her Orchard House address. <a href="http://www.legacy.com/stltoday/DeathNotices.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=102362737">Cora Ida Burdett</a> who died January 11 is there, with both her Nottingham Apartment listing and her nephew's contact information in Washington state where she died in a nursing home. Peggy Phillips and Ruth Proehl are there, too, and many more. It isn't just inefficiency or forgetfulness, although it is partly that. It is that I have come to be glad to be reminded of those whose lives have touched mine, have enriched the life of the church. When I scroll past them, it is a little reminder to give thanks for their lives and to pray for them in God's loving care. And then, curiously, they remind me of the people I have erased. Wendy and Alex are listed but no longer Michael their husband and parent. In a moment of efficiency, I deleted Anne Kelley shortly after her death but I can see her still with her sensible haircut and forthright manner and ready laugh. I deleted Joel Beezley but left his kind and gracious widow. And I imagine sometimes that I can smell his pipesmoke lingering around the vesting area from the years and years when we was lector at 7:30.<br />There is a little foretaste of the communion of saints lurking in my Treo address book. Thanks be to God!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11954156.post-7143423550985837792008-01-30T23:40:00.000-05:002008-01-30T23:43:18.881-05:00DECLINE TO SIGNAt our 2007 Diocesan Convention, we passed this resolution concerning the "Missouri Civil Rights Initiative."<br /><br />J-168 Missouri Civil Rights Initiative, <br />RESOLVED<br />That this 168th Convention of the Diocese of Missouri go on record as standing in opposition to the 'Missouri Civil Rights Initiative (MoCRI),' a proposal for the November 2008 Missouri ballot, attempting to eliminate affirmative action in public education, public employment, and public contracting in Missouri;<br /><br />that this Convention commends Secretary of State Robin Carnahan and Attorney General Jay Nixon for changing the deceptive ballot title submitted by the Misssoui Civil Rights Initiative to reflect the actual purpose of eliminating affirmative action;<br /><br />that this Convention calls on all members of the Diocese to become informed about the effects of such a proposal and to cast their ballots in conformity with the Baptismal Covenant, the tenets of our Democratic Republic and their consciences;<br /><br />and that the Secretary of this Convention immediately send copies of this resolution to the Governor of Missouri, Secretary of the State, Attorney General and both presidents of the General Assembly of the State of Missouri.<br /><br />If you would like to help work to keep this Initiative off the November ballot, please visit <a href="http://www.stl-jwj.org/">www.stl-jwj.org</a> There is some concern that people seeking to get signature to put MOCRI on the November ballot will be canvassing for signatures at polling places on February 5. Don't be fooled!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11954156.post-45075682174688720542007-12-22T01:16:00.000-05:002007-12-22T01:31:46.016-05:00Blue ChristmasTonight at Hope UCC I took part in a Blue Christmas service, put together by the wonderful Sarah Frederiksen McCann, pastor at Hope, and me. We basically cribbed the service from the Diocese of Ottowa, Canada. You can see their liturgy <a href="http://ottawa.anglican.ca/blue.shtml">here.</a> If you go to this link and scroll down, you find a ritual for individuals, in case you were not able or chose not to attend the service for whatever reason. The attendance was modest, at best, but those who were there were grateful for the acknowledgement that Christmas can be a time of struggle for many. We think we will do it again. The culture is so relentlessly cheerful, the emphasis is all on children and joy and family and for those who are grieving or alone or unable to take part in the frenzy of giving by reason of unemployment or other issues, it is a painful time. These are the people whom the liturgy tries to recognize, acknowledging their reality and God's presence with them in that reality. It was not the best attended service we've ever held, but it was full of potential for next year. More advertizing, a little work on the liturgy which was not always as felicitous as it could have been, a little fine tuing of the music (the selections are from the hymnal of the Anglican Church of Canada (which I have never seen) and we were in a UCC church using two different hymnals whose verse numbers etc. were quite a bit different from our hymnal. Kim Jungermann, a member of St Mark's, served as our musician, since the regular musicians of both of our congregations were too occupied by Christmas Eve planning to add another thing to their calendars.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11954156.post-60706961657407354262007-12-13T00:55:00.000-05:002007-12-13T01:18:06.381-05:00MORE ALTERNATIVE CHRISTMAS SHOPPINGWhile I was looking at the website of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana in order to put the volunteer form into Deacon Burnell Esbenshade's article for <strong><em>Markings</em></strong> about a possible Mission Trip, I found another alternative gift-giving opportunity, <em>Bundles of Hope.</em> You can make a donation to the diocese of Louisiana for its work in helping people recover from Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. You can print out a certificate to give to the person in whose honor you are buying the bundle. There are several levels of gift available. The link for it is<a href="http://edola.org/bundlesofhope.php"> here.</a><br /><br />I must say that I also like giving hand made gifts, if not made by me by others, so I seek out art and craft shows all year long. There is a delightful studio show at Nori Obata and Steb Prieto's studio on the overpass of Big Bend where you can buy porcelain, photos, crocheted objects, (by Nori's brother Gen) small rugs, hand made books, glassware blown right there in the studio and fabulous jewelry. Gen and Nori exhibited at our (now defunct) art fair Heart and Hands and Voices. Here is a <a href="http://www.genobata.com/">link to Gen's blog</a>. You can find the details of open studio as well as directions there. And while I am doing commercials, many of my nearest and dearest are getting chocolate products from <a href="http://www.kakaochocolate.com/Store/default.aspx">Kakao,</a> hand-made gourmet chocolates with the finest organic ingredients. My favorite is the Missouri Pecan Clusters with dark chocolate, followed closely by the dark chocolate coated caramels. <br /><br />Maybe people will comment on this entry and say their favorite places to shop and/or causes to support for Christmas.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11954156.post-73908714517701688302007-12-06T23:08:00.000-05:002007-12-06T23:53:25.981-05:00The Golden Compass and BeyondHaving heard about the eagerness of Christian groups to condemn the upcoming movie <a href="http://goldencompassmovie.com/">The Golden Compass, </a>I set out to read it. Actually, I listened to it, being hooked on <a href="http://www.audible.com/">Audible</a>. And then I listened to <em>The Subtle Knife</em> and then I listened to the <em>Amber Spyglass.</em> The versions on I got from Audible are narrated by Pullman himself and an ensemble of actors voice the other parts, Lyra and Roger and Will and so on. It is the best audiobook series I've heard. Pullman is a wonderful imaginative writer and his parallel worlds, especially Lyra's world, are inventive and delightful. His use of imagery from the Christian tradition and esp. from Milton, his reframing of the Fall, (and, indeed, of the harrowing of hell), his invention of an alternative from of physics, referred to as "experimental theology," all are extremely clever. The books are not as funny as Harry Potter but much more subtle and sophisticated. Pullman's universe may be without a theistic concept of God but it is a very moral world. One of the things about the books is that it is not always clear to the main characters or to the readers where good and evil lie. Even though in Lyra's world, people's demons often seem to symbolize their inner state (a particularly unpleasant character who steals the alethiometer in the Subtle Knife, for example, has a snake demon), it is still hard to know whom to trust and what to do. And then there are people like Lyra's mother who seem to be transformed almost despite themselves by the power of love.<br />Even though it is shelved in the Fantasy/SciFi section of the bookstore, the Golden Compass and its sequels depict very real children caught in a very adult world. Each of the books ends with triumph tinged with grief and loss, much like life, without fairy tale endings.<br />I'm looking forward to the movie even though it always distresses me to see worlds that exist in my head transformed into pictures. A review said that the movie makes Mrs Coulter, whose hair is black in the books, into a bleached blond (Nicole Kidman) and that Pullman himself is so enthusiastic about the way that the film makers have translated his work that he said that it made him realize that Mrs Coulter's hair really was blond, not black as he had originally thought. I am not convinced. But I cannot imagine that such richly imagined world which invites those who enter it with Lyra to see their own world with new eyes could possibly be bad for anyone. The film, apparently, tones down the anti-organized religion themes. But in the books, esp. in the first one, when one reads about "the Authority" and "the magisterium" they represent a way of being church that no one could possibly defend or seriously believe was the church as we know it. Marcus Borg says that when his students tell him they don't believe in God, he asks them to tell him about the God they don't believe in. That God is cruel and capricious and all about judgement and not love or mercy and Borg says that he doesn't believe in that God either. The church and indeed the whole concept of organized religion Pullman casts as the enemy in this book is not the church I know nor the God I know. Indeed my experience of God is much closer to the rich description in book three of Mary Malone's mystical experiences of dust, her sense of being one with all that is, even if the way that I would frame or describe that experience is in theological terms.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11954156.post-80173259031348497062007-11-28T18:54:00.000-05:002007-11-28T19:02:06.346-05:00ALTERNATIVE CHRISTMAS SHOPPING<div align="left">If you are tired of the commercialism of Christmas or want to make a statement with your gifts of your Christian commitment to justice and peace, here are some opportunities to give non-traditional gifts:<br /><br />Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) has a catalog of gifts in a range of prices for purposes such as assuring clean water supply in a village in a developing country, providing for child nutrition, mosquito netting and anti-malaria medicine and much more. Certificates of your gift are provided in exchange for your donation. ERD also packages and sells fair trade “Bishop’s Blend” coffee and coffee gift baskets. The ERD website is <a href="http://www.er-d.org/">http://www.er-d.org/</a>. You can also call Episcopal Relief and Development to order a catalogue at Phone: 800-334-7626, ext 5129<br /><br />A similar way to make charitable giving fun is by giving to the Heifer Project. They use your donations to provide animals to alleviate hunger and help people become self-sufficient. You can give something as small as a hive of bees or as large as an ark and they give you attractive acknowledgement cards to give to people. Their website is <a href="http://www.heifer.org/">http://www.heifer.org/</a> or you can call for a catalogue: (800) 422-0474.<br /><br />A local opportunity for “alternative Christmas shopping” is at Plow Sharing Crafts, a ministry of the Mennonite Church which works with disadvantaged crafts people around the world who are paid a fair wage for their work. (Plowsharing Crafts is part of Ten Thousand Villages). You can find them online at: <a href="http://www.plowsharing.org/">http://www.plowsharing.org/</a> Ten Thousand Villages is online at <a href="http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/">http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/</a> There are two locations in St Louis, one in Kirkwood at 151 W. Jefferson (314) 909-9401 and the original location in University City at 6271 Delmar (314) 863-3723.<br /><br />Another fair trade option is MacroSun International. They have a location here in St. Louis at 1310 Washington Ave., 63103 (314) 421-6400, or visit their website at <a href="http://www.macrosun.com/">http://www.macrosun.com/</a>.<br /><br />Trinity Food Ministry is selling Christmas cards for $1.00 a card or if you make a donation in honor of someone, they will send an attractive card as an acknowledgement. For more information on that, call Trinity at 361 4655.<br /><br />Dr. Mark Manary, a Washington University physician and a member of Gethsemane Lutheran Church, has started an organization called Project Peanut Butter, a ministry with undernourished children in Malawi. He uses a high nutrient food to stabilize starving children which uses peanut butter (made from locally grown peanuts, so the project also supports farming in Malawi) as a base. $25 will feed 2000 starving Malawian children. Donations may be sent to: Project Peanut Butter, 7435 Flora, St. Louis 63143. They also send an attractive thank you card if you make a donation in someone’s honor. You can find out more on their website <a href="http://www.projectpeanutbutter.org/">http://www.projectpeanutbutter.org/</a>.<br /><br />Magdalene is a two year residential program working with women in Nashville with a history of prostitution and drug addiction. As part of the rehabilitation of the women and as a financial support Magdalene began "Thistle Farms" a line of bath and body products. These are natural products that are as kind to the environment as they are to the body. We showcased these products at our Holiday Luncheon this year and samples for viewing in the parish hall. Please check out their website at <a href="http://www.thistlefarms.org/">http://www.thistlefarms.org/</a> .<br /><br />And of course you can always buy fair trade coffee, tea, cocoa and chocolate here at St Mark’s or make a donation to St Mark’s or one of its ministries or funds like the organ fund or access fund, in honor of someone you love. We’ll be happy to send a letter to your friends or family telling that a donation has been made in their honor. </div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11954156.post-8482252563227437212007-11-02T12:53:00.000-04:002007-11-02T17:59:44.805-04:00All Souls' DaySo today is November 2, All Souls' Day, a day when the church remembers those who have died. More and more we blur the line between All Saints' Day-- when we remember those particular heros of the faith who have been outstanding examples in one way or another or whose lives have shaped the Christian tradition-- and All Souls' Day. We blur that line because we know that only God knows what kind of hierarchy of saintliness there is among us, how much each life matters to the coming of God's kingdom. And we blur that line because we have people in our lives who have been examples of wisdom and courage and faith who will never be "officially" saints for the whole church but who have been holy examples for us. And we blur that line because we believe that God makes us holy by our baptism in to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and calls us all to holy lives.<br />One of the difficulties about keeping a church blog is that many of the really amazingly wonderful moments in ministry are about being privileged to be part of the lives of other people -- I get to hear people's stories, to journey with people as they seek new direction in their lives, as they search for the sacred, as they make commitments to service in the world, as they face disappointment and setbacks, as they struggle with disease and approach death. But mostly, this is material that is not appropriate for a blog. I know there are people who blog about the most intimate details of their relationships but I don't think that a priest can write that kind of stuff about parishioners. But I thought I would post the homily I preached at a memorial service on October 19th on my moribund <a href="http://sermonland.blogspot.com/">sermon blog. </a>You can also listen to an old sermon there. Maybe more will appear to join it soon... Maybe not. Here is a quotation from Frederick Beuchner which a friend sent me yesterday <blockquote><blockquote><p>On All Saints Day, it is not just the saints of the church that we should remember in our prayers, but all the foolish ones and wise ones, the shy ones and overbearing ones, the broken ones and whole ones, the despots and tosspots and crackpots of our lives who, one way or another, have been our particular fathers and mothers and saints, and whom we loved without knowing we loved them and by whom we were helped to whatever little we may have, or ever hope to have, of some kind of seedy sainthood of our own."</p></blockquote><blockquote>- <em>The Sacred Journey</em> p.74<br /></blockquote></blockquote>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11954156.post-28385502802205002812007-10-25T02:59:00.000-04:002007-11-02T12:53:07.629-04:00For the BIble Tells me So<a href="http://www.forthebibletellsmeso.org/">For the Bible Tells Me So </a>was shown here in St Louis, sponsored by HRC. It was well done, moving and amusing in that "laughing until you cry" way. I was especially touched by the story of the Robinsons and by Gene and his story made me feel proud to be Episcopalian all over again. As a Missourian (by adoption and grace) , I was also touched by the Gephardts' story.<br /><br />But as the parent of a child who identifies as "gender queer" and another who identifies as bi- (both of whom are not at all clear that the church is a place they will find nurture as adults, grateful though they are for growing up in it in some ways) I noticed the following:<br /><br />In the lovely animated segment which was a parody of the sex-ed films many of us grew up with but devoted to explaining sexual orientation, the issue of being "bi sexual" was dismissed out of hand in a way designed to make the audience laugh.<br /><br />There was no household with a child who was gender variant or self identified as "transgender". In fact, in various ways parents described their gay and lesbian children as NOT like stereotypical gay men --portrayed as ridiculously effeminate and "limp wristed" and not like "butch" lesbian women. In other words, the parents acceptance of their childrens' sexuality seemed to be predicated on the fact that the children were gay or lesbian but still stereotypically masculine or feminine.<br /><br />Please understand that I loved this movie. I loved in particular the story of the Poteat family, where theological convictions about the wrongness of the lifestyle of a lesbian daughter struggled alongside a love for that daughter and a commitment to remain in relationship with her. I was moved by the tragic story of the mother whose religious beliefs made it impossible to accept her child's sexual orientation until it was too late. I loved the stories of parents whose gay and lesbian children turned them into amazing activists. I plan to show this movie when it is available on DVD in my congregation. I have recommended it to friends. But even though it seems too controversial for many PBS stations, it was a reminder to me of how much work we, as a church, have yet to do.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11954156.post-42826409977750379412007-10-16T19:12:00.000-04:002007-10-16T19:25:20.418-04:00Fall already?<div align="left">I just sent out a new e-mail, artfully formatted, in the hopes that it will facilitate better communication in the congregation. On my grumbly days I feel that we don't have a communication problem, we have a listening problem or a reading problem. I just grumbled to someone at the Y that the meeting she was asking me if I planned to attend was one I never had heard of before. "I sent an email" she replied... Yeah, she probably did and I probably didn't read it or didn't transfer the info to my Palm or didn't synch it or... We all get so much data and have so many options for how to spend out time it is amazing any of us can keep track of anything...</div><div align="left"> </div><div align="left">In the email I included a link to this blog and to my shame I see that the last posting was in August. How interesting is that?</div><div align="left"> </div><div align="left">Since then we've had opening day, two "Children in Church"Sundays (or squirmy Sundays as some of our parishioners say), over a month of 9 a.m. "Life up Your Hearts", two Christian Education suppers in our talking about money series "The M Word". We've had a gifts discernment workshop, several meetings of our youth groups, two stewardship meetings, several choir rehearsals and much more.</div><div align="left"> </div><div align="left">Here is how The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori closed her webcast today:</div><div align="left"> </div><div align="left"><em>One of my predecessors was fond of saying, "in this church there will be no outcasts." I concur, and I challenge each one of us to consider who it is we would most like to be rid of. That person, my friends, is the image of Christ in our midst. There will be no outcasts in this church, whether because of sexual orientation or theological perspective. God has given us to each other, to love and to learn from each other. May God bless each and every part of this body</em>.</div><div align="left"> </div><div align="left">If you missed it (I did) I think you can watch it<a href="http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/calendar/index.php?event_id=41421"> here </a>.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11954156.post-37674076082432602412007-08-21T23:45:00.001-04:002007-08-22T00:05:26.430-04:00Kiva Suppers -- Eat in to Help OutA group of about 18 Saint Markans gathered for a supper on August 12th. The rector (me) and Senior Warden and spouses were the hosts, our children and their friends provided extremely efficient and amazingly cheerful help. We ate in the parish hall. The guests were to bring money, whatever they would spend on a night out (and that night out might be at McDonalds or at some amazingly fancy restaurant) and we would pool our money and use it to give microcredit loans through the website Kiva.org. The menu was local food from the Tower Grove Farmers' Market-- Lamb kebabs from Prairie Farms, roasted veggies from Biver Farms, a tomato salad with tomatos from various local vendors and local potatoes with herbs from the Speller garden. The desserts were a raspberry tart with local raspberries and jam from Centennial Farms in Augusta, a plum berry crisp featuring blackberries from Centennial Farms. The wines were not so local, which was probably okay, too... We raised (including a couple of donations from people who loved the idea but could not attend) $550. While dinner was getting ready (and we ate local tomato and Black Bear bakery bruschetta with local goat cheese and another kind of bruschetta from local egg plants) people browsed on the Kiva Website for worthy entrepreneurs. We decided on two -- a farmer in Azerbajan and a woman shop owner in Nigeria. But by the next day, when we had set up a Pay Pal account for the church, these two entrepreneurs had been fully subscribed. So Sue, the treasurer who set up the Paypal account, and I "shopped" for other entrepreneurs and this is what we came up with:<br /><a href="http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=15912">http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=15912</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=16015">http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=16015</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=15484">http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=15484</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=16073">http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=businesses&action=about&id=16073</a><br /><br />These loan recipients are like the original ones in representing more than one area of enterprise, more than one geographical area and in at least one case, our loan helped the recipient achieve his or her total loan goal.<br /><br />It is amazing to think that $550 could make such a huge difference in the lives of four people and their families, allowing them to take businesses to the next step and to be economically independent and able to educate their children. To most of us around the table, $550 is an amount of money we would notice-- not just the kind of change you'd drop on the street and not bother to pick up-- but for few of us was it a life changing amount of money, either. It reminded us of our many advantages and privileges as Americans and maybe made us think about our regular patterns of giving and whether as individuals we might want to become<a href="http://www.kiva.org/"> KIVA </a>investors.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11954156.post-90143704091432258702007-05-05T23:05:00.000-04:002007-05-05T23:38:00.233-04:00Toothpaste and the paradox of choiceToday I was in the supermarket and thought I should buy more toothpaste as the tube we are currently using is almost used up. When I was a child, we used Colgate toothpaste and it seemed to me that it came in only one flavor. Other families used Crest and others used Pepsodent, although obviously not very many because it went out of business. I had a strong preference for Colgate but John came from a Crest family and I became a Crest convert. But recently when I have gone toothpaste shopping I have noticed that there are more and more KINDS of Crest. There are gels and creams, there are kinds that whiten, kinds that help with sensitive teeth, kinds that have mouthwash to prevent bad breath, kinds that protect against cavities, kinds that prevent against tartar, kinds aimed at kids, kinds with baking powder (the kind I hate the most) and kinds that do various things but have non minty flavors like cinamon, citrus and lemon. There is a kind called "nature's expressions" which comes in Mint and Green Tea, among other flavors. So I am standing there looking for the kind I like, which has Scope and something else in a stripy paste. Can I see it? Can I figure out which-- of fhis vast range of choices-- it is... not really. My goal, of course, is to find the brand of Crest which tastes the most like the Colgate of my childhood. Anyway, as I stood there, wondering which flavor I wanted and which attributes, I was thinking, not for the first time, about an NPR interview I heard with a man called Barry Schwartz who wrote a book called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Paradox-Choice-Why-More-Less/dp/0060005696/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-7180554-7647346?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1178420649&sr=8-1">The Paradox of Choice:Why More is Less</a> which describes this very dilemma -- we think as a culture that choice is a good thing but then we are overwhelmed by the problem of choosing. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0060005696/ref=s9_asin_image_1-2288_p/102-7180554-7647346?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=15D6M6V45NFBPQ2Y7AG7&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=278240301&pf_rd_i=507846">Here</a> is a link to the interview. John's dad always said that Coleman's mustard made their money from the mustard that stayed on the plate not the mustard you put on your meat. I wonder whether toothpaste manufacurers have discovered that the secret to profitability is having so many kinds of toothpaste that desperate consumers buy a kind and CAN'T STAND IT and go back for a different kind the next day...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11954156.post-54183434007368513552007-05-05T00:41:00.000-04:002007-05-05T00:48:13.949-04:00Catching up... and new BlogMaybe I am not cut out to have a blog.<br /><br />So much has happened... so much to report... and I have not made time for any of it.<br /><br />But I'm writing now to point out that I have made a blog for the General Convention Deputies from Missouri to respond to the Draft Anglican Covenant. If this is interesting to you, you can find it here: <a href="http://draftcovenantresponse.blogspot.com">http://draftcovenantresponse.blogspot.com</a><br /><br />I gather that the office of the bishop will be doing something when the House of Bishops' response is ready but I wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to offer input, whenever it is offered. I'll be offering discussion this Sunday and next at 9 a.m. at St Mark's.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11954156.post-1162873654745307142006-11-06T23:27:00.000-05:002006-11-07T13:37:08.800-05:00On the Road with the Organ CommitteeDuring 2006, the organ committee has visited several organs in the Saint Louis area, including the <a href="http://www.dobsonorgan.com/html/instruments/op52_stlouis.html">Dobson tracker in the First Unitarian Church</a> and the <a href="http://www.casavant.ca/new_temp/anglais/Recent/3manuals.html">Casavant tracker </a>at Principia College. Last week, four of us (Lydia, John, Bob and Barbara) went to Chicago to visit four more instruments. The purpose of this is to identify organ builders from whom we would like to have bids. At each instrument, those who could play the organ (Bob and Barbara and sometimes the local organist would play for us as well) played a variety of music, so we could hear what the instrument would be like leading hymns and liturgy and for preludes, postludes and concerts. We listened to different stops (or groups of pipes voiced to sound in a particular way) and listened to see how certain stops sounded with other stops. Ideally, each stop is beautiful by itself but blends wonderfully with every other stop. Because we were listening to tracker (or mechanical action) organs, we wanted to be sure that the sound of the action wasn’t noticeable above the sound of the pipes. Another factor we looked at was the “feel” of the action: how sensitive and responsive are the keys to the touch? We tried to assess how well each organ builder had adapted the organ to the space in the church itself. Failure to do this can make an instrument sound too loud, too soft or too muddy. We looked at how each builder had designed the organ to complement or enhance the architectural look of the building. We are hopeful that this trip, undertaken at our own expense, will help the organ committee to identify three builders from whom we would like to have bids. We visited the 21 stop Halbert Gober organ (Op. 11) at Bethany Lutheran Church, Crystal Lake, IL ; which had a spectacular case<br /><br /><p><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7306/990/1600/DSCN0197.0.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7306/990/320/DSCN0197.0.jpg" border="0" /></a>the 19 stop Hellmuth Wolff (Op. 37) at St. Giles Episcopal Church, Northbrook, IL ; The 23 stop Lynn Dobson organ (Op. 81) at Kenilworth Union Church, Kenilworth, IL and the 27 stop Martin Pasi organ (Op. 15) at the Episcopal Church of St. Paul, and the Redeemer, located near the University of Chicago. <a href="http://www.dobsonorgan.com/html/instruments/op81_kenilworth.html">Here is a link </a>to the Kenilworth organ on Dobson' site, showing how the organ itself was built. Here (below) is a picture of the interesting embossed pipes on the Dobson. <a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7306/990/1600/DSCN0216_edited-1.0.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: center; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7306/990/320/DSCN0216_edited-1.0.jpg" border="0" /></a> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Below is a picture of the Pasi in St Paul and the Redeemer. I really like the ribbons over the altar, too. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7306/990/1600/DSCN0227_edited-1.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7306/990/320/DSCN0227_edited-1.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><br /><br />Below is a picture of the Wolff at St Giles' Church, Northbrook and here is a <a href=" http://www.uquebec.ca/musique/orgues/etatsunis/northbrooksgec.html">link to the Wolff website </a>for the specs and other information.<br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7306/990/1600/northbrooksgec.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7306/990/320/northbrooksgec.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7306/990/1600/DSCN0201.0.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: center; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7306/990/320/DSCN0201.0.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />What are trackers, anyway? Well, right above this is a picture of the insides of a tracker instrument and you can read one church's explanation of how organs work <a href=" http://www.danishchurch.vancouver.bc.ca/history/organ.html">here</a> I suspect that I'll be editing this soon with some input from John Speller on websites that explain how organs work.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11954156.post-1155438166262138032006-08-12T22:45:00.000-04:002006-11-06T23:27:52.763-05:00Painting the World<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7306/990/1600/IMG_0618.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7306/990/320/IMG_0618.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7306/990/1600/IMG_0633.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7306/990/320/IMG_0633.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Today was the day that the youth of St Mark's, with lots of help from adults and younger children, painted a map of the world on the playground of <a href="http://locations.slps.org/location.asp?RecordID=5A585B&LocName=Scruggs%20Elementary%20School">Scrugg's School.</a> Scruggs is an elementary school in south Saint Louis, more or less due east of the church. We have at least one parishioner who attended Scruggs (probably 50 years ago) and we have a parishioner who teaches there. Over the years we've tried to support the work of this teacher and she helps us to learn about the lives of the children in the school. A few years ago, our Outreach Committee partnered with <a href="http://www.faithbeyondwalls.org">Faith Beyond Walls</a>, an agency which tries to encourage people of different races and faith traditions to work together, to paint a map of the US on the otherwise rather bare and barren playground. This year, a new generation of youth group got a small grant from Faith Beyond Walls intended to encourage youth groups to engage in ministries of service in the community. And with the money they bought a stencil of the world and a bunch of bright and new paint. So today St Markans touched up the US and painted the world. Three children from the neighborhood stopped by, as they had a few years ago, to see what we were doing and to help. Kids at Scruggs come from all over the world, including Bosnia, Somalia, and Afghanistan, so a map of the world is probably a good thing to have. Parishioners donated some jump ropes and balls and things to the athletic department for playground use and I think there was enough paint left over to paint squares for hopscotch. Anyway, here are a bunch of pictures of people at work and of their handiwork. Anna recruited four of her friends from Metro, so that St Louis School grads were doing something for a new generation of SLPS kids. <em>Something odd is happening with the photo uploading. Blogger keeps saying I have done it successfully but no photos appear. Be patient I'll add them soon.</em>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11954156.post-1154622304638607502006-08-03T11:46:00.000-04:002006-08-03T12:25:04.693-04:00Coffee, coffee and paperA friend brought me to the Saint Louis Coffee Oasis at 8 Euclid Street, which is at Euclid just north of Laclede. With luck you can park on Laclede. It has lovely decor, a wonderful whimsical painted wall with a camel saying "I'd walk miles for coffee from St Louis Coffee Oasis" or something similar. They have traditional espresso drinks and then Arabic coffee in various permutations, including an Arabic Latte which has wonderful spices in it. Today Anna had Arabic Tea which seemed to be infused with sage and other herbs and was served in a lovely gold trimmed tea glass (which is a little hard to hold when hot.) They put the Latte in a big glass but you get a Java jacket. They also have many different kinds of baklava and other Middle Eastern treats and lunches including Spinach Pie and Gyros. They advertize Free High Speed internet but I have not tried this. It looks as if this may be wired not wireless since there are little ethernet sockets along the wall, but I'm not sure. They also have tables outside, as many Central West End restaurants do, but with temperatures again in the high nineties or low hundreds, the attraction of sitting outside was rather limited for me.<br /><br />On Sara and Laclede, over in that area on the fringes between Saint Louis University and the Central West End, there is a newish (year old?) coffee house called 6 North. It is 6 North Sarah. It is in a big new building of "loft style" apartments. The decor is lovely, they have some fabulous artwork including lovely luminous landscapes and huge watercolors of exotic plants. They have comfy chairs as well as tables. The ladies' room (and I assume, <em>mutatis mutandis,</em> the men's room) is decorative with witty sayings about coffee like "Behind every great woman there is a great cup of coffee." They serve<a href="http://www.kaldiscoffee.com/"> Kaldi's </a> coffee. I almost always prefer my coffee drinks hot but one day last week I succumbed to an icy granita like mocha drink there which was absolutely delicious. I have never actually had anything to eat there, but they have a list of enticing sandwiches and a display of delightful pastries.<br /><br />Next to 6 North is a wonderful paper store called Sage Papers. They have cards, little notebooks an array of social stationary you can put through your printer (make your own cute baby announcements, for example), some lovely art paper or wrapping paper and much more. They also have elegant French correspondence cards marked GL which I am unable to resist. Lovely powder blue, lovely lined envelopes. They had wonderful paper boxes you can use for distinctive present wrapping or decorating. They also had whacky coasters that looked like flipflops.<br /><br />And did I mention that all this is across the street from the wonderful restaurant Terrene which I believe I raved about here a few months ago. When Mo and Anna were at Metro, we drove up and down Sarah all th time and all this elegant and interesting stuff has sprung up there now we no longer spend so much time in the neighborhood. Oh well.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11954156.post-1153595538552019242006-07-22T14:58:00.000-04:002006-07-22T15:52:00.563-04:00After the StarmToday is a lovely and sunny day and there is a breeze and the humidity is manageable and it is only in the 80's. But even now as we drive through the city it seems that more traffic lights are out than are on, houses and shops are dark and huge branches and even trees still lie on sidewalks and across streets. I missed the storm itself on Wednesday evening. I was driving back from Cape Girardeau where we had had a post General Convention session. All the way up 55 there was sheet lightening and regular lightening. No rain, not much thunder (or not that I could hear with windows shut and A/C on high.) Every now and then the radio would offer a warning about thunderstorms with high winds but since I didn't know what counties I was driving through or what counties were affected by the warning, I decided to just keep driving.I guess the storm must have passed through St Louis while the bishop and deputies were fielding questions about the difference between straining the bonds of affection or breaching the bonds of affection within the Anglican communion. But when I got up to St Louis Hills there were trees and branches down everywhere. The church and its new roof appear to have been unscathed and the big elm in our backyard, alarmingly large and close to the house, held up just fine as did the big tree in the Memorial Garden.<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7306/990/1600/july21%20068.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7306/990/400/july21%20068.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Less fortunate was the apartment building on Clifton on the other side of Nottingham from the church.<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7306/990/1600/july21%20067.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7306/990/400/july21%20067.jpg" border="0" /></a> Streets around the church look like this. Murdoch and Locke were both blocked until well into Thursday. St Mark's was spared when the power went out on Wednesday but Thursday night the lights flashed on and off and then went off altogether until Friday afternoon. Ironically, Friday afternoon there was a second big windstorm which caused even more people to lose power but our power came back shortly after it passed through the area.<br /><br />Friday AM Anna and I went to the Bread Company with all the other orphans of the storm. According to the power company there were 10,000 people without service in our zip code and it seemed as if most of them were at the Bread Company. I was there from 8 to 9:30 during which time over 150 people were served (you had to take a number.) There was the kind of survivor cameraderie that I've experienced waiting for a ferry off Nantucket after a hurricaine or the kind I imagine people had in London during the blitz, when whole families would go down into the underground to wait out air raids. People were helping one another figure out the Panera free WiFi , passing on what they knew about who had power and who didn't, exchanging rumors about when the power would come on, etc. Those of us who were there to plug in our laptops and get our email shared tables and electrical outlets, no longer strangers but companions.<br /><br />The incredible heat of last week made me crabby and lethargic and then the power went off. When I think of all the places in the world where people are living with disrupted electrcity, I realize how little patience I have and how dependent on technology (my cordless phone, my computer, my cell phone) I have become and how spoiled by air conditioning I am. I would not have lasted ten minutes in the aftermath of Katrina or in Beirut or in the parts of St Louis where the mayor does not live and which are still waiting for power to come back on.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1