While the Rector was away I allowed myself to be roped into co-hosting a Bible discussion group. There are about five or six of them going on simultaneously, each one consisting of six parishioners, including the two co-hosts ( Read more... )

Religion classes are always a mixed bag. No question about it. They draw all sorts of viewpoints. Even in a sect as narrowly drawn as the American branch of the Anglican church, itself a product of the English Reformation, we get lots of people whose interpretation of the Bible resemble southern fundametalists, can quote chapter and verse sections ( Read more... )

It's hard to believe that my EfM certificate is within grasp. It's been twelve years since I started down this road. I think I had a total misconception of what the journey would be about. I honestly thought it would lead to a better job. It's so easy to forget how much I hated working for the Department of Finance. The political interference. The ( Read more... )

Had to force myself to go to EfM class last week, so angry at myself for letting Juanita get under my skin like that. And, I was in Middletown which required me to follow the class on my smartphone since all I have is a lousy chromebook to connect to the internet ( Read more... )

I felt like the Duke of Edinburgh slapping shut his laptop, the most expeditious and soul satisfying way to exit a Zoom meeting (evidently he had no fears of accidentally leaving his camera on. I do - which is why I always push the little red button that says, "Leave Meeting ( Read more... )

So, The Education for Ministry class met for the umpteenth time this year, another panel of zoom squares arrayed across my laptop screen. It was the same evening as the Derek Chauvin verdict so, people were already discussing it when I tuned in. And, of course, by the time I arrive I am already ticked off because the facillitator never emails a ( Read more... )

The two of them seem to be taking turns at occupying my body. Honore is festive and light-hearted - very gay in the old-fashioned sense of the word. Uncle Scrooge is just a grumpy old man. Just about the only thing they have in common is an affinity for wearing top hats and long overcoats ( Read more... )

Last week's EfM class was about the Sabbath. It was also the first reading that I can recall for a long time that was not written by a Christian, but rather by a rabbi who died after a Jewish shabbat some fifty years ago. We'll be reading him next week too ( Read more... )

I often kick myself for the amount of time I spend in a twilight of eroticism, mixed with Christology and Hollywood fan-fiction that I somehow manage to keep from spilling out of my head but sparingly, i.e., when called in the service of art. That's the only time I feel as though I'm making sense to ordinary human beings. When I'm speaking writte ( Read more... )

Last week's class was the last to cover the Theology textbook written by Dr. Ford and the consensus seemed to be that it could not have come a moment too soon. The edition we have is about the size of a pack of cigarettes and is a little less difficult to read than the Surgeon General's warning in the corner of one ( Read more... )