I've stolen this list from my friend Suzanne's blog. It's a list of the Top 100 books of all time, as voted by regular folks. I've highlighted it in two ways - the books I read before I graduated from college, versus the books I've read since then.
The pre-college graduation books are highlighted in blue. The post-college ones, in red.
1. 1984 by George Orwell
2. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
3. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
4. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
5. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (I finally read this last year, and thought it was amazing. Thanks to Sister Nancy Hopkins for the push.)
6. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
7. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
8. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
9. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
10. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
11. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
12. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
13. Ulysses by James Joyce
14. Animal Farm by George Orwell
15. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
16. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
17. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
18. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
19. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
20. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
21. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
22. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
23. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
24. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
25. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
26. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
27. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
28. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
29. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
30. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
31. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
32. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
33. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
34. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
35. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
36. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
37. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
38. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
39. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
40. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
41. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
42. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
43. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
44. His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman
45. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
46. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
47. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
48. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
49. The Stand by Stephen King
50. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
51. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
52. Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
53. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
54. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
55. Watership Down by Richard Adams
56. Dracula by Bram Stoker
57. Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham
58. Moby Dick by Herman Melville
59. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
60. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
61. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
62. The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky
63. Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
64. Dune by Frank Herbert
65. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (This is, officially, my favorite book of all time. I'm thrilled that it made the list.)
66. Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
67. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
68. Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
69. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
70. Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
71. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
72. The Trial by Franz Kafka
73. I, Claudius by Robert Graves
74. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
75. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
76. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
77. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
78. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
79. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
80. Vanity Fair by William Thackeray
81. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
82. The Stranger by Albert Camus
83. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
84. The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
85. The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston LeRoux
86. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
87. Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
88. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
89. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. Persuasion by Jane Austen
91. Light in August by William Faulkner
92. Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
93. Call of the Wild by Jack London
94. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
95. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
96. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
97. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
98. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
99. The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel
100. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
So, I've read 35 of them. About 1/3 of the list. And of that 35, only 12 of them, in the last 20 years. Suzanne rather jokingly suggested an online Top 100 book group. We could all read one each month, and then check in with one another about what we think. I'm half-convinced that it's a great idea. Anybody out there game for the idea?
10 March 2008
14 January 2008
Michigan's Messed-up Primary or Small Town Joys
Perhaps you've heard about the messed-up presidential primary in Michigan. The State Party Muckety-Mucks, tired of having our ballots cast after all the decisions had already been made, stated that they would move our presidential primary to January 15th. The National Party Muckety-Mucks, said, "Oh, no," and threatened to penalize the state, should the primary move.
The primary moved; we've been penalized. Oh look, cause and effect. The only candidates who've been campaigning here are Romney, McCain, and Huckabee. Let's just say that it made for some exciting TV watching this weekend. NOT.
It's not yet clear whether any of Michigan's Democratic delegates will be seated at the convention this summer, which is why the candidates aren't bothering to campaign here. It's also why most Democratic candidates aren't even on the ballot. And, apparently writing in my choice disqualifies my vote. So, my limited presidential primary voting options are as follows. (1) Vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton. She's on the ballot, but she's so not my choice for President. (2) Vote for Dennis Kucinich. He's on the ballot, but he's also not my choice (though he's a far sight closer than HRC). (3) Vote for Uncommitted Delegate. There's absolutely no guarantee that the delegate will support the candidate of my choice, but at least I'm not voting for the candidate NOT of my choice, right? (4) Say screw it and not vote at all.
To make matters more complicated, I left Ontonagon this afternoon. Now, what you may not know about me is that I am a committed voter. I don't skip elections. I believe deeply that voting is a privilege. But neither could I couldn't quite justify making an extra 232 mile round trip in order to vote in this debacle. Especially not to vote for Mr. or Ms. Uncommitted Delegate. So, this morning, I called the Town Clerk and begged to vote by absentee ballot, which he allowed me to do, about 20 minutes before he closed the office. I LOVE living in a small town.
I'm feeling pissed off about the whole situation. I've been an Obama supporter for over a year now, and I feel ripped off that I didn't get to vote for him. On the other hand, I did get to exercise my civic duty. And, I suppose that's really what this is all about. And, I got to appreciate, yet again, the joys of living in a small town.
10 January 2008
A New Year's Meme
1. What did you do in 2007 that you have never done before?
Go on a cruise. In general, I didn't really expect to like it, and I wasn't wrong about that expectation. But, I traveled with four women I love (Mom, Anne Kirchmier, Linda Ricketts, and Liz Tunney) and that was terrific and worth all the things about the cruise I didn't care so much about (too many people, too much trying to sell me stuff I didn't want to buy).
2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I'm not much for New Year's Resolutions, but I did want to try to live healthier in 2007. I think I did fairly well in some regards. Food allergies caused me to give up pop (soda to those of you living elsewhere!) and I've been getting more exercise. I've vowed to continue this in 2008, as well as to get more in touch with my body. I've signed up for a Yoga class.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No, though good friends did take in some foster children.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Sadly, yes. I'm still deeply mourning my friend and bishop Jim Kelsey. Additionally, Fran Robertson and Larry Livingston in Little Lake.
5. What countries did you visit?
I made several passes through Canada in 2007, and on the cruise, visited Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, Mexico, and the Bahamas, and all those (except Canada) were new to me.
6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
And end to the war in Iraq.
7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched in your memory, and why?
April 17th - my first date with Michelle; June 3rd - the day that Jim died; November 12th - the day Michelle agreed to spend the rest of her life with me.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I can't think of one thing - but realizing that I had gained the trust and acceptance of the people with whom I live and work. And hearing one individual telling me that I had exceeded his expectations for what an intern could do was very rewarding.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Rather than thinking of one specific instance - I learned over the course of this year, that I was not always speaking the truth. Rather, I was deferring to those who seemed wiser or had more experience. And on several occasions, that led to some disasters down the road, that might have been circumvented, if I'd spoken up in the first place. Learning to better trust my instincts is one of my goals for 2008.
10. Did you suffer from illness or injury?
I developed migraines this year. Yuck. In the midst of trying to sort those out, I discovered food allergies - Dairy and Egg. Blech. I love Dairy. And I love Eggs.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
I new MacBook - with 2 gig of RAM and a huge hard drive. YAY!
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
My church's, as it took on the Millennium Development Goals with seriousness.
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled or depressed?
My country's and my president's.
14. Where did most of your money go?
For gasoline. Now, I must say, that while this statement is factually true, if I lived anywhere else in the world, even more of my money would have gone for gasoline, so this isn't really a complaint. It's simply reality.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
The fact that more and more people seem to coming to an understanding about climate change and our responsibility to do something about it.
16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
Save the Last Dance for Me
17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?
Happier, Thinner, and Poorer - but I'll take best 2 out of 3.
18. What do you wish you had done more of?
Relaxed. Read fun novels. Played. I spent much of this year working way too hard.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Goofed off on the internet. Attended meetings.
20. How did you spend Christmas?
With my Mama and with our good friends (and my colleagues) Manuel and Peggy.
21. Did you fall in love in 2007?
Yes, and it was absolutely wonderful.
22. What was your favourite TV program?
I'm not much of a TV watcher, but I take some delight in watching Ninja Warrior on G-4 and cheering on those who are challenging themselves with that course.
23. Do you hate anyone now that you did not hate at this time last year?
I try very hard not to hate. It's not an emotion I feel comfortable with. But there are some people who evoke strong feelings of dislike in me. When I can, I do try to effect reconciliation. That being said, there is a person I find terribly difficult and whom I avoid at all costs.
24. What was the best book you read?
I read a number of great books. Certainly Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was wonderful - I read it twice, because it was so good. I also adored Eat, Pray, Love and A Thousand Splendid Suns.
25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Michelle turned me on to Joel Plaskett Emergency. I'm not sure that I'd call them a musical discovery, but I really like them. And, they have some really rockin' hummin' tunes that you'll find bopping around in your head.
26. What did you want and get?
A wonderful woman to love. A dog. A computer that works.
27. What did you want, and not get?
An end to this senseless war.
28. What was your favourite film of this year?
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. In a more serious vein, I thought that Blood Diamond was wonderful.
29. What did you do for your birthday, and how old were you?
I had dinner with my friend Ginny. I turned 41.
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
This year was actually quite satisfying. I met the girl of my dreams. I do work I love. I enjoy my life on most days. It's hard for me to imagine one thing whose magical application would make my life immeasurably more satisfying.
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
Blue jeans.
32. What kept you sane?
Michelle.
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Barak Obama. But not in that schoolgirl crush kind of way, which is what the word "fancy" makes me think of. Rather, I believe the man has integrity. Or, at least as much integrity as you can manage to hold on to and be a political candidate in the year 2008.
34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Climate change. Global poverty. Consumerism.
35. Who did you miss?
Jim Kelsey. But in terms of those who simply live where I don't get to see them very often, but thankfully get to email, and chat with and see periodically: the residents of Wayfarer House.
36. Who was the best new person you met?
Michelle - and the very interesting group of people that she hangs out with.
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.
Life is short and we do not have too much time to gladden the hearts of those who travel the way with us - so make haste to love and be swift to be kind. This was one of Jim's favourite blessings. I think it makes good sense. It's a good idea to make sure that the folks you love know that you love them.
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
"Hey Good lookin' Why the frown?
It always looks better when it's upside down,
You say you got nowhere that you're going to
Can I go nowhere with you?"
-From "Nowhere with You" by Joel Plaskett Emergency
It was a good year. But I shed alot of tears, too. Grief sucks. And I'm still in the midst of it. We sang this song alot. And it always made me laugh, even in the midst of tears.
08 January 2008
book pushing
I've been doing a great deal of reading, what else do you do in the winter in the UP. And actually, some of what I've "read" I've listened to in the car. For months after Jim died, I didn't have the concentration for audio books; all I could manage was some nice, soothing folk music. Or loud, pounding rock. But not a plot of any kind.
But, thankfully, that's changed. So, let me make three very different recommendations for your reading pleasure.
(1) A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Set in Afghanistan, this novel spans several generations, and begins sometime in the late 1960s, and ends in the present day. The writing is clear and concise, the story is gripping, and the characters will grab your heart and break it a few times. I've not read The Kite Runner, which is Hosseini's first novel (or, perhaps his first one released here?), but it's not on my list. I listened to this one with a sense of real foreboding. Tragedy is around every corner in this book, but Hosseini creates such empathy that I really fell in love with the women in his novel. Additionally, the novel taught me much about Afghanistan. I know there is a danger about learning about contemporary politics from a novel, but if the novel reflects the contemporary situation in any way, then it's no wonder that the situation there is such a mess. And, it's no wonder that they have such hatred for Americans. Read this novel, friends.
(2) Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. This novel's been around a while, having been written nearly 20 years ago, though it's getting big press, since Mr. Follett finally released the sequel folks have apparently been begging him to write for years. I picked it up about a month ago at the airport, when I finished all my work, unexpectedly, and it looked like the least grim in a series of bad airport newsstand choices. I was so wrong. It's wonderful. Follett has written a novel about 12th century England, and the building of a cathedral in the fictional town of Kingsbridge. It's by turns funny, gripping, and suspenseful. It's a real commitment, weighing in at nearly 1000 pages, but if you like historical fiction, this one is good, and well written. And while I am no British historian, it rings true. It's a real treat. I don't get to sit and read for pleasure much, and I resent the time I'm away from this one.
(3) Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. This book is some odd combination of travelogue memoir confessional spiritual guide, written by a woman who's about my age. Liz sets out to spend a year in pursuit of pleasure, God and balance, having survived a brutal divorce followed immediately by another broken heart. She realizes that she must get her life in order. So she goes first to Italy to learn Italian (something she has always wanted to do, simply because she finds the language beautiful). Next she heads to the ashram of her guru in India. Finally, she goes to Indonesia, where several years previously, she encountered an Indonesian medicine man who tells her to come back sometime and visit him.
Liz Gilbert reads the audio version herself, which is great, because she's got an ear for accents, and her ability to relay conversations with Richard from Texas or any number of the folks she encounters is worth the price of admission on the audio book. But the book is worth a read, or a listen, for more than this. The questions that she raises about life and love, and the energy that she devotes to her spiritual practice put me to shame. This woman meditates for hours every day. And she's funny. Gut splittingly funny. And poignant. There were times when I was crying so hard that I might have been dangerous, as I was driving down the road. There were also times when she was a bit self-absorbed. But hell, it was her book, so I think she gets the right. I actually ordered the book tonight. Because I liked it so much, after listening to it, that I want to read it. I want to hold it in my hands, and underline things. I want to write quotes down.
And, I certainly want to encourage some of the people I love to read the book.
01 January 2008
Getting Hitched
It's official. Michelle and I are getting married! Or, in the official lingo of the Episcopal Church (gotta love church politics) we're having our "relationship blessed." The date is April 18th, which we love, because we're hopeless romantics, and it happens to be exactly a year and a day after our first date. And, this picture, posted here, was taken exactly thirty seconds after I asked her and she said yes. (You've got to love the wonders of modern technology - I had a digital camera in my pocket, have a blog, and the whole world - or at least our friends scattered hither and yon - can share our joy!)
So, save the date. And given our seriously limited financial resources, look for an e-vite coming soon!
29 December 2007
Winter Wonderland
This year, we are finally having a real UP winter. It actually started snowing in November, as it should. I haven't measured yet, but I bet the total snow accumulation is over 75 inches. Presently, at least two feet are on the ground in Houghton, with a bit less in Ontonagon.
The best part, though, is that we've been able to enjoy it. Michelle bought me snowshoes for Christmas, and we've been walking Bird-dog nearly every afternoon after work. And, yesterday, we went cross-country skiing for the first time this winter. It felt great to get out there and move. On Boxing Day (12/26), I drove to Duluth to see my friend Marlene, and even did some snowshoeing over there.
When I was younger, I always thought of winter as this totally desolate time, but what I see now is that it is beautiful. It's a different kind of beauty from the wild and exuberant beauty of summer, for sure, but it is beautiful, nonetheless. The light in the woods yesterday afternoon was simply spectacular, and it took my breath away. We were skiing in the late afternoon, and as it grew closer to dusk, it seemed as though the snow as actually glowing with a kind of pinkish light. It was simply lovely.
The best part, though, is that we've been able to enjoy it. Michelle bought me snowshoes for Christmas, and we've been walking Bird-dog nearly every afternoon after work. And, yesterday, we went cross-country skiing for the first time this winter. It felt great to get out there and move. On Boxing Day (12/26), I drove to Duluth to see my friend Marlene, and even did some snowshoeing over there.
When I was younger, I always thought of winter as this totally desolate time, but what I see now is that it is beautiful. It's a different kind of beauty from the wild and exuberant beauty of summer, for sure, but it is beautiful, nonetheless. The light in the woods yesterday afternoon was simply spectacular, and it took my breath away. We were skiing in the late afternoon, and as it grew closer to dusk, it seemed as though the snow as actually glowing with a kind of pinkish light. It was simply lovely.
17 November 2007
Buy cards of Frannie's art!
Michelle did all the research, and found a great site where we can put our art online. Please check it out. All you have to do is click on one of these little thumbnails pics, and it will take you right to RedBubble. I know that most of you aren't in a place where you've got tons of cash to spare. But, I do hope that you'll check out my art. Some of my favourite pictures are there. I'm continuing to add work, so keep checking back.
14 November 2007
The Year of Magical Thinking
Run, do not walk to your nearest bookstore to pick this one up.
Joan Didion has been a legend to me, for about 16 years. At the bookstore, when we hired new staff, we always gave a book quiz. It separated the run of the mill readers from the literati. And there were always a few titles on the list that I never expected anyone to know. Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion was one of them.
Her new book (relatively - and certainly new to me) tells the story of the year that begin in late December 2003, and ends one year later. It starts the night her husband, John Gregory Dunne dies of a heart attack, while having dinner. Simultaneously, their only daughter, Quintana Roo Dunne, just a month younger than I, is struggling for her life. One health crisis after another consumes her.
And Didion lays it all bare. She shares the grief. The magical thinking (like not giving away John's shoes, as he'll need them when he comes back). The heartache of having to tell her daughter three different times that her father is dead. (She was in a coma when he died, then she relapsed and forgot, then she had a brain hemorrhage, and lost the information again).
As I continue to struggle with my own grief over Jim's death, and I as I watch the diocese struggle with it's grief, this book spoke to me.
10 September 2007
What are you reading?
This post was totally inspired by Suzanne and I thought it might give you a glimpse of what I'm up to these days. Most of my reading is professional, but I read some fic on the internet, so I am getting some relaxing reading in somewhere.
1. God and Empire: Jesus Against Rome, Then and Now by John Dominic Crossan. A gift from Sare, this one has been on my shelf for months, but I finally picked it up as preparation for a retreat I'm co-leading at the end of the month. Crossan provided a history of the intersection between the Roman empire, the homeland Jews of Jesus' time, and the early church. He undertakes this examination (as I understand it) in order to explore how the contemporary US Govt. acts like an empire (and has for 150 years) and what the implications are for Christian Americans. I think I'm going to love it - the centrality of justice and the need for Christians to work to bring about God's justice and God's kingdom are passions for me.
2. Opening the Prayerbook by Jeffry Lee. Lee, writing this volume as part of the New Church's Teaching Series, examines the history and context of the prayerbook and the theologies that contributed to the 1979 (most recent) Book of Common Prayer. He places many of the prayerbook services in context. I'm reading this one with the Ministry Support Team at the Church of the Holy Innocents in Little Lake.
3. Preaching What We Practice: Proclamation and Moral Discernment by David Schlafer and Timothy F. Sedgwick. I began this book on vacation, before I headed out to spend a week with Tim (the author) and his wife Martha. He'd given it to me last spring (BJD - Before Jim Died) and I didn't read much in those first few months. I wanted to be able to talk about it with him. The book is well-written and makes a strong case for preachers to preach moral discernment, in order to help those in the pews make sense of (and take action regarding) much of what is happening in the US today.
4. The Message: Daily Reading Bible and The Message//Remix by Eugene Peterson. Having not completed absolutely every reading assignment in seminary (I know, you're shocked) I thought it might be time to read the bible again. I got a cool audio version for my iPod, which breaks the bible up into manageable daily reading chunks (though I tend to listen to several at a time). The Message is a contemporary translation by a guy named Eugene Peterson. I'm really enjoying it so far - though I'm only in Genesis....
5. LifeCycles by the LifeCycles Team (of which I am a member, now!). LifeCycles is the adult formation program in the Diocese of Northern Michigan. Two groups I work with are presently working with it. The Ironwood Ministry Support Team began Cycle I, Unit 1 last week, and the Iron River Ministry Support Team returned to LifeCycles after a multi-year hiatus. They are working on Cycle I, Unit 3.
6. Celtic Benediction: Morning and Night Prayer by J. Philip Newell. I'm not so much reading this one as using it for morning prayer (at least I am when I actually find time for morning prayer - true confessions, here!).
7. Blogs. Back BJD, I read blogs really regularly. Not random ones, though that can be fun. But mostly, with a couple of exceptions, the blogs of people I know and love, who live someplace other than here. It's been a way to keep up. To know what they're thinking about and what they're up to. It's one of the routines that simply vanished in the weeks after Jim died. But I'm sort of regaining my equillibrium, and I'm back to blogs. I don't read them every day, but I do try to check in a few times per week. For a list of the blogs I read, see the right sidebar of this blog. I don't know Fr. Jake and I don't know the WTFWJD woman (though I sure wish I did, she's fun) but all the other folks are people I love and miss.
1. God and Empire: Jesus Against Rome, Then and Now by John Dominic Crossan. A gift from Sare, this one has been on my shelf for months, but I finally picked it up as preparation for a retreat I'm co-leading at the end of the month. Crossan provided a history of the intersection between the Roman empire, the homeland Jews of Jesus' time, and the early church. He undertakes this examination (as I understand it) in order to explore how the contemporary US Govt. acts like an empire (and has for 150 years) and what the implications are for Christian Americans. I think I'm going to love it - the centrality of justice and the need for Christians to work to bring about God's justice and God's kingdom are passions for me.
2. Opening the Prayerbook by Jeffry Lee. Lee, writing this volume as part of the New Church's Teaching Series, examines the history and context of the prayerbook and the theologies that contributed to the 1979 (most recent) Book of Common Prayer. He places many of the prayerbook services in context. I'm reading this one with the Ministry Support Team at the Church of the Holy Innocents in Little Lake.
3. Preaching What We Practice: Proclamation and Moral Discernment by David Schlafer and Timothy F. Sedgwick. I began this book on vacation, before I headed out to spend a week with Tim (the author) and his wife Martha. He'd given it to me last spring (BJD - Before Jim Died) and I didn't read much in those first few months. I wanted to be able to talk about it with him. The book is well-written and makes a strong case for preachers to preach moral discernment, in order to help those in the pews make sense of (and take action regarding) much of what is happening in the US today.
4. The Message: Daily Reading Bible and The Message//Remix by Eugene Peterson. Having not completed absolutely every reading assignment in seminary (I know, you're shocked) I thought it might be time to read the bible again. I got a cool audio version for my iPod, which breaks the bible up into manageable daily reading chunks (though I tend to listen to several at a time). The Message is a contemporary translation by a guy named Eugene Peterson. I'm really enjoying it so far - though I'm only in Genesis....
5. LifeCycles by the LifeCycles Team (of which I am a member, now!). LifeCycles is the adult formation program in the Diocese of Northern Michigan. Two groups I work with are presently working with it. The Ironwood Ministry Support Team began Cycle I, Unit 1 last week, and the Iron River Ministry Support Team returned to LifeCycles after a multi-year hiatus. They are working on Cycle I, Unit 3.
6. Celtic Benediction: Morning and Night Prayer by J. Philip Newell. I'm not so much reading this one as using it for morning prayer (at least I am when I actually find time for morning prayer - true confessions, here!).
7. Blogs. Back BJD, I read blogs really regularly. Not random ones, though that can be fun. But mostly, with a couple of exceptions, the blogs of people I know and love, who live someplace other than here. It's been a way to keep up. To know what they're thinking about and what they're up to. It's one of the routines that simply vanished in the weeks after Jim died. But I'm sort of regaining my equillibrium, and I'm back to blogs. I don't read them every day, but I do try to check in a few times per week. For a list of the blogs I read, see the right sidebar of this blog. I don't know Fr. Jake and I don't know the WTFWJD woman (though I sure wish I did, she's fun) but all the other folks are people I love and miss.
30 August 2007
Fall Comes to the UP
I'd forgotten, even though it totally threw me last year. Fall comes fast and early. In Massachusetts (and Virginia, too, I think) August is the hottest month. But here, the autumn arrives swiftly. I'd say that fully half of the trees are turning. And the air is cool. Some leaves have even fallen from the trees. I love the fall, and the cooler air, and the beauty that takes my breath away. But it's always a shock to have the green begin to vanish. And knowing what I know now about how long it will be until they return, I'm feeling a bit melancholy about their early departure.
I LOVE this book
My dear friend Suzanne can always be counted on to find the coolest internet quizzes. I love this quiz, as it speaks to my book-selling and book-loving soul. And how cool is the result? I LOVED Watership Down when I was a tween. I read it several times, and found it captivating. I'm a little nervous about the talking to rabbits part, but I guess I'll go with it.
You're Watership Down!
by Richard Adams
Though many think of you as a bit young, even childish, you're
actually incredibly deep and complex. You show people the need to rethink their
assumptions, and confront them on everything from how they think to where they
build their houses. You might be one of the greatest people of all time. You'd
be recognized as such if you weren't always talking about talking rabbits.
Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.
27 July 2007
Frannie returns to blogland
I know I've been pretty quiet in the last eight weeks. All I can say is that it's been a long road. Grief is so energy-sapping. And the work left to do has been all-consuming. But I am starting to see some light and to feel more like myself again, both of which are very good things.
Warning: This part contains spoilers for Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince (Book 6) - do not read if you don't want to know serious plot details:
In news that won't ber a surprise to those who know me, I've been reading Harry Potter this week. I began by re-reading The Halfblood Prince (Book 6). I was struck, at the end of the book, after Dumbledore is murdered, by how well J.K. Rowling wrote grief. I really resonated with how the staff and students at Hogwarts responded to the news of Dumbledore's death. Her descriptions of the pain, the confusion, and the denial, all rang so true to me.
There are a number of reasons why Harry Potter has become such a phenomenon and I'm not going to expound on them all. The reason that interests me, in this post, has to do with how well she captures the human condition. Her characterizations, her descriptions, and the ways that these characters respond ring true to me. Rowling gets it. And she writes it well.
I've got some backlogged things that I'll be posting in the next few days. I've got a few sermons that I've written in the time I've been away from my blog that I'd love to share. And I have a very long piece that I wrote for our Junior/Senior Camp for a talk that I gave there (that Jim was to have given) on friendship that I want to post, as well.
Thanks for checking back, despite the lack of new postings in such a long period of time.
Warning: This part contains spoilers for Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince (Book 6) - do not read if you don't want to know serious plot details:
In news that won't ber a surprise to those who know me, I've been reading Harry Potter this week. I began by re-reading The Halfblood Prince (Book 6). I was struck, at the end of the book, after Dumbledore is murdered, by how well J.K. Rowling wrote grief. I really resonated with how the staff and students at Hogwarts responded to the news of Dumbledore's death. Her descriptions of the pain, the confusion, and the denial, all rang so true to me.
There are a number of reasons why Harry Potter has become such a phenomenon and I'm not going to expound on them all. The reason that interests me, in this post, has to do with how well she captures the human condition. Her characterizations, her descriptions, and the ways that these characters respond ring true to me. Rowling gets it. And she writes it well.
I've got some backlogged things that I'll be posting in the next few days. I've got a few sermons that I've written in the time I've been away from my blog that I'd love to share. And I have a very long piece that I wrote for our Junior/Senior Camp for a talk that I gave there (that Jim was to have given) on friendship that I want to post, as well.
Thanks for checking back, despite the lack of new postings in such a long period of time.
07 June 2007
James Arthur Kelsey, RIP
MARQUETTE, MI —The world became a darker place with the passing of James Arthur Kelsey.
James Arthur Kelsey James gained love and respect from everyone he met in his professional and personal life. James spent his life giving — giving of his time, his heart, and his soul to help anyone and everyone in need. His levels of compassion and kindness were unparalleled. A courageous man, willing to stand up for his beliefs. James Kelsey was the benchmark to which great men are judged. Not only a great man, but a great husband and father. There was no better model for how to be a truly wonderful human being than the one he provided for his sons and daughter.
If the world were full of more men like James Arthur Kelsey, it would be a wonderful place. Sadly, today we find ourselves with one less.
James Arthur Kelsey was born August 27, 1952, along with twin brother Stephen, in Baltimore, Md., to parents Arthur Corson Kelsey and Louise Martien. James, who liked to be called Jim, attended schools in New York City and Burlington, Vt. He graduated from Ithaca College in New York in 1974 with a Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy. In 1976 while at General Theological Seminary, he fell in love and married Mary Cruse.
After graduating from General Theological Seminary in 1977, Jim was called to be Deanery Curate for four congregations in southwestern Vermont. Following his ordination to the priesthood in 1978, he was called to be the rector of Holy Trinity Church in Swanton and priest-in-charge of three missions which gradually evolved into an eight-point cluster over the next seven years. During his year at Holy Trinity, his interest in collaborative ministry deepened. A non-hierarchal form of leadership emerged there, which included a locally ordained priest and a team of persons who shared ministry support responsibilities. Holy Trinity was recognized by the national church as one of ten effective congregations highlighted in the publication Against All Odds, prepared for the 1982 General Convention.
In 1985 Jim answered a call by the Diocese of Oklahoma to help establish a diocesan-wide strategy for cluster ministries. His work there focused especially with eight congregations in a six-county area in east-central Oklahoma. He began an extensive consulting role on collaborative ministry throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Jim and Mary, along with their children, moved to the Upper Peninsula for his new role as Ministry Development Coordinator in the Diocese of Northern Michigan in 1989. He felt an affinity immediately with the U.P., as it reminded him of his summers in Vermont as a youth. This position he held until his election as Bishop in 1999.
Since coming to the diocese, over half of the diocese's 27 congregations have embraced Mutual Ministry, as collaborative ministry is known in Northern Michigan. It is characterized by the commissioning of local Ministry Support Teams supported by seminary-trained regional missioners. Interest in Mutual Ministry by other dioceses in the U.S. and abroad led Northern Michigan and has brought visitors to the Diocese from all around the world, hungry for a first-hand look at this model for ministry.
Jim's consulting work over the years expanded overseas to include New Zealand and the United Kingdom and has touched over thirty-five dioceses in the United States. He participated in numerous national and international networks and training programs, including the Leadership Academy in New Directions (LAND), Sindicators, Synagogy, Coalition 14, an International Symposium on Local Collaborative Ministry, and together with his colleagues, initiated an educational resource for community formation, called LifeCycles. He was also a founding leader of "Living Stones," a lively multi-diocesan community of ministry developers.
During successive General Conventions, Jim chaired and participated in various committees, speaking passionately on issues around the ministry of all the baptized. Through his hard work and collaboration with others, significant changes were made to the national church Canons. Most recently, in recognition of his "prophetic leadership in supporting the baptismal ministry of all Episcopalians and for the Diocese's work in helping to transform congregations from being communities gathered around a minister to ministering communities,"
Jim was honored at the Episcopal Divinity School with a Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa on May 17, 2007.
Jim was the Bishop Protectorate for the Society of St. Francis, Province of the Americas, and was himself a Third Order Franciscan, who was steadfastly working to follow the path of St. Francis. He was deeply committed to peace and justice issues and protecting the environment. He was a member of the Bishops for a Just Society and one of the founding leaders of the ecumenical group Earth Keepers.
Jim loved music and films, learning new technologies and perhaps best of all the New York Yankees.
James Arthur Kelsey is survived by his wife, Mary Kelsey of Marquette; three children, Nathan Kelsey of Johnston, Iowa, Lydia Kelsey and her fiance, Jared Bowman of North Liberty, Iowa, and Amos Kelsey of Mackinac Island; his mother, Louise Kelsey of Easthampton, Mass.; two sisters, Ann Lammers of Peterborough, N.H., and Meg (Jonathan) Wright of Florence, Mass.; one twin brother, Steve (Kathy Barrett) Kelsey of Durham, Conn.; father- and mother-in-law, John and Shirley Cruse of West Des Moines, Iowa; brothers-in-law, John (Patty) Cruse of Madison, Wis., and Fred (JoAnn) Cruse of New Glarus, Wis.; sisters-in-law, Hildy Smith of West Des Moines, Iowa, Gail (Ed) Cudworth of Urbandale, Iowa, and Katy Andreen of Des Moines, Iowa; also surviving are numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his father, Arthur Kelsey.
Visitation will be on Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at St. Paul 's Episcopal Church in Marquette. A Memorial Eucharist will be held at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Marquette at 4 p.m. EDT Friday with the Rt. Rev. Bruce Caldwell, bishop of Wyoming, presiding. Memorials are preferred in Bishop Kelsey's memory to the Page Conference Center c/o Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan, 131 E. Ridge St., Marquette, MI 49855 .Bishop Kelsey's obituary can also be viewed at www.canalefuneral.com where relatives and friends may leave a note of remembrance.The Canale-Tonella Funeral Home of Marquette is assisting the family with arrangements.
Broken Hearted
Sarah and I were on vacation. We'd spent the day, in clerical collars, marching in Buffalo's gay pride parade. We'd started planning how to spend the rest of the week, painting the living room, hiking Niagra gorge, having dinner with her Mama. The opening credits had just rolled on Memoirs of a Geisha when my cell phone rang.
I knew something was terribly wrong if Manuel was calling me on my vacation. His news: that our bishop, Jim Kelsey, had been killed in a car accident several hours previously. I told him I was coming home. Sarah, officially the best friend ever, came with me. We drove 14.5 hours back to the UP on Monday (only 48 hours after I'd driven 14.5 hours to Buffalo).
We're all in shock. We're all grieving. Our hearts are broken.
Jim's funeral will be tomorrow (Friday, June 8, at 4pm).
I knew something was terribly wrong if Manuel was calling me on my vacation. His news: that our bishop, Jim Kelsey, had been killed in a car accident several hours previously. I told him I was coming home. Sarah, officially the best friend ever, came with me. We drove 14.5 hours back to the UP on Monday (only 48 hours after I'd driven 14.5 hours to Buffalo).
We're all in shock. We're all grieving. Our hearts are broken.
Jim's funeral will be tomorrow (Friday, June 8, at 4pm).
21 May 2007
Sermon, Easter 7
I know, I've been gone for weeks, and suddenly, I'm the mad poster. But most of this stuff was already done and just WAITING for me to post. So here goes. I was quite pleased with the final results of this one.
20 May 2007 Iron River/Houghton
In today’s reading from the Gospel of John, Jesus prays that all may be one. For weeks now, we’ve been hearing a conversation between him and his close followers, but today, the mood changes. Instead of a discourse or a dialogue, we are privileged to eavesdrop on Jesus’ prayer. He stops talking to the disciples, and begins talking to his Father.
And the first thing that he asks God to do in that prayer is to help all to be one, as he and his Father are one. He’s not just praying for his friends gathered at the table. Nor is he praying only for those followers who have been with him on his journey. He is praying for ALL to be one. Jesus asks God to make one his close friends and all those who will come to believe in him through their words and witness.
One of the amazing things about this prayer is that it ties together all of us who have come to believe in Jesus. When Jesus prays that all will be one in this way, it covers everyone from his early followers, throughout the ages and generations, to us today and beyond us to our children and grandchildren. When Jesus says ALL, he means ALL.
Much has been made, in recent years, of the various and sundry ways that Christians are divided. Are we progressives or fundamentalists? Are we Baptists? Methodists? Roman Catholics? Lutherans? Are we Anglicans or Episcopalians?
Does our worship represent primacy of scripture or of sacrament?
As some of you know, I was in Virginia this week. On the plane coming home, working on this very sermon, I met an Evangelical man who, when he heard that I was an Episcopalian, began to engage me in conversation. While he was gracious about it, his agenda was to make sure that I understood that his church interpreted scripture correctly and that ours seemed to miss the boat.
Perhaps our disagreements are more local, hinging around questions of church governance, music, or forms of worship. Certainly in my forty plus years of church membership, I’ve witnessed more church arguments at this local level than great arguments over who’s in or out.
The truth is, with very little difficulty, we can name a hundred ways that we are separated one from another, and yet still call ourselves Christian. And we could throw up our hands in despair because we somehow seem to be failing at this directive of Jesus. Except, that “may they all be one” is not a directive. It is Jesus’ prayer on our behalf. It’s the thing that he is asking God to accomplish on our behalf, not something that we are entirely responsible for.
I don’t know about you, but I have found questions of unity to be particularly troubling in recent months within our own Episcopal Church/Anglican Communion. Will there be schism? Will there be separation? Will the US Church get booted out of the family?
This week in Virginia, I spent time with Kathy Grieb, one of my favourite professors at Virginia Theological Seminary. Kathy teaches Greek and New Testament at VTS, and she was part of the Covenant Design Team that met in January, attempting to craft a covenant that might keep all of us at the Anglican Table.
Several months later, Kathy spoke to the US House of Bishops, essentially blowing the whistle about how skewed the process was. In the end, while I think that Kathy finds some things useful about the idea of covenant, she was not at all wild about the way the chips seem to be falling in this particular process.
On Friday, a group of friends, including Kathy, gathered for coffee and dessert. Kathy talked with us for several hours about her views on the church and the implications for what might happen as we move forward. It was amazing to hear her lay out implications and to talk about her passion for mission.
I actually jettisoned the first draft of this sermon after that conversation, as I made the connection between what Kathy had to say about the church and mission and how these things might relate to Jesus’ prayer on our behalf that we all might be one.
Certainly there are those who would like to see us all one as Jesus and the Father are one in some sort of cookie cutter, uniform way. In this view, there is a single entity who describes what is orthodox (right belief) and orthopraxis (right behaviour/practice). And those of us who fail to conform to those beliefs and practices will be left behind.
In the history of the church, this sort of line drawing has happened repeatedly.
But there is another kind of one-ness that seems possible to me, one that is not based in either orthodoxy or orthopraxis.
This one-ness comes out of the teachings of Jesus. In these last weeks, as Jesus prepared his disciples for his departure from them, he reminded them that others would know them by their love for one another. And he said that they could recognize other lovers of God based on those who kept His word.
In this vein, I’d like to share a story that Kathy told us on Friday night.
She said that back in the early 1980s, there was a US cathedral that had a mission relationship with a diocese in the Pacific Islands. The Episcopal Church had begun ordaining women; the Pacific Island Anglicans thought that ordaining women was a terrible idea. What to do? What would become of that mission-connection? Would the connection be severed over disagreements in church practice?
Well, apparently representatives from the cathedral travelled to that diocese. Each party acknowledged the difference of opinion. They shook hands and then the two sides got down to work literally building a church and building relationships. Their unity of purpose, of spreading the gospel, of behaving as Jesus behaved seemed far more crucial to them than some sort of lock-step orthodoxy.
Today, we have that same opportunity. We may or may not all agree. But we have the opportunity to demonstrate our one-ness not by conformity to one side’s view of orthodoxy, but by our commitment to living out the gospel. This town, this county, this nation, and our world are all filled with people who are hungry, thirsty, naked, homeless, addicted, oppressed and/or in need of the Good News of Jesus Christ. The gospel calls us to act for justice.
Scripture provides us with a variety of texts that can be interpreted in a host of ways, speaking to issues of morality and behaviour. It is unwavering in it’s directives that we are to act for justice.
We can show ourselves open to the unity that Jesus prayed for by caring less about whether we agree on the issues that threaten to divide us and caring a great deal more about the amazing work we can accomplish together coming out of acting for justice.
Rather than throwing up our hands in despair about the conservatism or liberalism of our perceived enemies, we can form partnerships with those with whom we disagree theologically, in order to act for justice.
Kathy told us on Friday night that she’s heard a number of liberal Americans say, “Well, they say they don’t approve of us, yet they are happy to take our money.” And she has heard African bishops say, “We won’t take money from sinners.” No one is served by this type of mentality, least of all, God.
I find little hope of us all being one, as Jesus and the Father are one if we think it can be accomplished based on finding some common ground of orthodoxy. I find great hope of our all being one, if we come together in a commitment to serving those in need and acting for justice.
AMEN.
In today’s reading from the Gospel of John, Jesus prays that all may be one. For weeks now, we’ve been hearing a conversation between him and his close followers, but today, the mood changes. Instead of a discourse or a dialogue, we are privileged to eavesdrop on Jesus’ prayer. He stops talking to the disciples, and begins talking to his Father.
And the first thing that he asks God to do in that prayer is to help all to be one, as he and his Father are one. He’s not just praying for his friends gathered at the table. Nor is he praying only for those followers who have been with him on his journey. He is praying for ALL to be one. Jesus asks God to make one his close friends and all those who will come to believe in him through their words and witness.
One of the amazing things about this prayer is that it ties together all of us who have come to believe in Jesus. When Jesus prays that all will be one in this way, it covers everyone from his early followers, throughout the ages and generations, to us today and beyond us to our children and grandchildren. When Jesus says ALL, he means ALL.
Much has been made, in recent years, of the various and sundry ways that Christians are divided. Are we progressives or fundamentalists? Are we Baptists? Methodists? Roman Catholics? Lutherans? Are we Anglicans or Episcopalians?
Does our worship represent primacy of scripture or of sacrament?
As some of you know, I was in Virginia this week. On the plane coming home, working on this very sermon, I met an Evangelical man who, when he heard that I was an Episcopalian, began to engage me in conversation. While he was gracious about it, his agenda was to make sure that I understood that his church interpreted scripture correctly and that ours seemed to miss the boat.
Perhaps our disagreements are more local, hinging around questions of church governance, music, or forms of worship. Certainly in my forty plus years of church membership, I’ve witnessed more church arguments at this local level than great arguments over who’s in or out.
The truth is, with very little difficulty, we can name a hundred ways that we are separated one from another, and yet still call ourselves Christian. And we could throw up our hands in despair because we somehow seem to be failing at this directive of Jesus. Except, that “may they all be one” is not a directive. It is Jesus’ prayer on our behalf. It’s the thing that he is asking God to accomplish on our behalf, not something that we are entirely responsible for.
I don’t know about you, but I have found questions of unity to be particularly troubling in recent months within our own Episcopal Church/Anglican Communion. Will there be schism? Will there be separation? Will the US Church get booted out of the family?
This week in Virginia, I spent time with Kathy Grieb, one of my favourite professors at Virginia Theological Seminary. Kathy teaches Greek and New Testament at VTS, and she was part of the Covenant Design Team that met in January, attempting to craft a covenant that might keep all of us at the Anglican Table.
Several months later, Kathy spoke to the US House of Bishops, essentially blowing the whistle about how skewed the process was. In the end, while I think that Kathy finds some things useful about the idea of covenant, she was not at all wild about the way the chips seem to be falling in this particular process.
On Friday, a group of friends, including Kathy, gathered for coffee and dessert. Kathy talked with us for several hours about her views on the church and the implications for what might happen as we move forward. It was amazing to hear her lay out implications and to talk about her passion for mission.
I actually jettisoned the first draft of this sermon after that conversation, as I made the connection between what Kathy had to say about the church and mission and how these things might relate to Jesus’ prayer on our behalf that we all might be one.
Certainly there are those who would like to see us all one as Jesus and the Father are one in some sort of cookie cutter, uniform way. In this view, there is a single entity who describes what is orthodox (right belief) and orthopraxis (right behaviour/practice). And those of us who fail to conform to those beliefs and practices will be left behind.
In the history of the church, this sort of line drawing has happened repeatedly.
But there is another kind of one-ness that seems possible to me, one that is not based in either orthodoxy or orthopraxis.
This one-ness comes out of the teachings of Jesus. In these last weeks, as Jesus prepared his disciples for his departure from them, he reminded them that others would know them by their love for one another. And he said that they could recognize other lovers of God based on those who kept His word.
In this vein, I’d like to share a story that Kathy told us on Friday night.
She said that back in the early 1980s, there was a US cathedral that had a mission relationship with a diocese in the Pacific Islands. The Episcopal Church had begun ordaining women; the Pacific Island Anglicans thought that ordaining women was a terrible idea. What to do? What would become of that mission-connection? Would the connection be severed over disagreements in church practice?
Well, apparently representatives from the cathedral travelled to that diocese. Each party acknowledged the difference of opinion. They shook hands and then the two sides got down to work literally building a church and building relationships. Their unity of purpose, of spreading the gospel, of behaving as Jesus behaved seemed far more crucial to them than some sort of lock-step orthodoxy.
Today, we have that same opportunity. We may or may not all agree. But we have the opportunity to demonstrate our one-ness not by conformity to one side’s view of orthodoxy, but by our commitment to living out the gospel. This town, this county, this nation, and our world are all filled with people who are hungry, thirsty, naked, homeless, addicted, oppressed and/or in need of the Good News of Jesus Christ. The gospel calls us to act for justice.
Scripture provides us with a variety of texts that can be interpreted in a host of ways, speaking to issues of morality and behaviour. It is unwavering in it’s directives that we are to act for justice.
We can show ourselves open to the unity that Jesus prayed for by caring less about whether we agree on the issues that threaten to divide us and caring a great deal more about the amazing work we can accomplish together coming out of acting for justice.
Rather than throwing up our hands in despair about the conservatism or liberalism of our perceived enemies, we can form partnerships with those with whom we disagree theologically, in order to act for justice.
Kathy told us on Friday night that she’s heard a number of liberal Americans say, “Well, they say they don’t approve of us, yet they are happy to take our money.” And she has heard African bishops say, “We won’t take money from sinners.” No one is served by this type of mentality, least of all, God.
I find little hope of us all being one, as Jesus and the Father are one if we think it can be accomplished based on finding some common ground of orthodoxy. I find great hope of our all being one, if we come together in a commitment to serving those in need and acting for justice.
AMEN.
Interview Questions, Round Two
It seems like weeks ago that Wayfarer sent me some interview questions. Finally, I am getting to them.
1. If you were given the chance to try one day or event in your life over again, what would it be? How might you try it differently?
When I was young and less responsible about the feelings of others, I ended a relationship badly. I was dating a lovely man, whom I would have married had I not finally sorted out that I was a lesbian. My inability to be honest with myself, combined with a certain lack of responsibility, led me to be unfaithful to him. I wish that I'd had the maturity, patience, and self-knowledge to end the relationship first and then enter into that new relationship.
2. What is your favorite form of entertainment that is NOT movies, television, music or books (I put the last one in there to make it a little tougher)?
Tough call. Games, I think. I love to be outdoors, hiking, photographing, enjoying, but I think of that less as entertainment somehow. And, the reality is that I could play games for days. Truly.
3. What is the greatest single challenge you have overcome in your life?
Loving my mother for who she is. When I was younger, I was very impatient with her and could easily see all of her flaws (conveniently missing my own). But, in the last five years, I've come to see all the complexities that made her who she is. And, I've learned how very lovable she is as a person.
4. What is one thing about you that your friends probably don’t know that would surprise them?
That the hardest food for me to give up, having become a vegetarian is NOT steak, or even pork tenderloin, but the humble hot dog. My father grew up in Aroostook County, Maine (Ashland and Portage); every single Saturday night we ate hot dogs and home made baked beans. Every Saturday. It is my ultimate comfort food. If I'm going to cheat on the vegetarian thing, it will be for hot dogs.
5. Imagine a memorial to you and your life. What would you want it to say? What would you want it to look like? Where would it be located?
I want whatever memorial that is erected to my life when I am gone to be small and to avoid taking up land that might be used for something more important than storing old dead bodies. I'd be happy to have my ashes live in a columbarium in a church, or scattered in a field of flowers.
I think that the most important work that can be done by those of us living on the planet right now is to love. Love deeply. Love everyone, even our enemies. And so I hope that a memorial to me might read something like, "She showed love to all she met." Or even, "We knew ourselves to be beloved by her." I had a friend die young and suddenly several years ago, and Adam's great gift to the world was the love he showed to us all. I hope that I do the same.
Now, here's the deal: It’s your turn! Here’s how it works: Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me” (or send me an email) and I’ll email you five hopefully provocative, entertaining questions. They’ll be different questions from the ones I’ve answered here (that’s the beauty of this!)You update your own blog with the answers to the questions I sent, and include an explanation of how this worked with an offer to interview someone else in the same post.When other people comment on your blog asking to be interviewed, you get to ask them five questions, and the process evolves. It's fun - so try it!
1. If you were given the chance to try one day or event in your life over again, what would it be? How might you try it differently?
When I was young and less responsible about the feelings of others, I ended a relationship badly. I was dating a lovely man, whom I would have married had I not finally sorted out that I was a lesbian. My inability to be honest with myself, combined with a certain lack of responsibility, led me to be unfaithful to him. I wish that I'd had the maturity, patience, and self-knowledge to end the relationship first and then enter into that new relationship.
2. What is your favorite form of entertainment that is NOT movies, television, music or books (I put the last one in there to make it a little tougher)?
Tough call. Games, I think. I love to be outdoors, hiking, photographing, enjoying, but I think of that less as entertainment somehow. And, the reality is that I could play games for days. Truly.
3. What is the greatest single challenge you have overcome in your life?
Loving my mother for who she is. When I was younger, I was very impatient with her and could easily see all of her flaws (conveniently missing my own). But, in the last five years, I've come to see all the complexities that made her who she is. And, I've learned how very lovable she is as a person.
4. What is one thing about you that your friends probably don’t know that would surprise them?
That the hardest food for me to give up, having become a vegetarian is NOT steak, or even pork tenderloin, but the humble hot dog. My father grew up in Aroostook County, Maine (Ashland and Portage); every single Saturday night we ate hot dogs and home made baked beans. Every Saturday. It is my ultimate comfort food. If I'm going to cheat on the vegetarian thing, it will be for hot dogs.
5. Imagine a memorial to you and your life. What would you want it to say? What would you want it to look like? Where would it be located?
I want whatever memorial that is erected to my life when I am gone to be small and to avoid taking up land that might be used for something more important than storing old dead bodies. I'd be happy to have my ashes live in a columbarium in a church, or scattered in a field of flowers.
I think that the most important work that can be done by those of us living on the planet right now is to love. Love deeply. Love everyone, even our enemies. And so I hope that a memorial to me might read something like, "She showed love to all she met." Or even, "We knew ourselves to be beloved by her." I had a friend die young and suddenly several years ago, and Adam's great gift to the world was the love he showed to us all. I hope that I do the same.
Now, here's the deal: It’s your turn! Here’s how it works: Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me” (or send me an email) and I’ll email you five hopefully provocative, entertaining questions. They’ll be different questions from the ones I’ve answered here (that’s the beauty of this!)You update your own blog with the answers to the questions I sent, and include an explanation of how this worked with an offer to interview someone else in the same post.When other people comment on your blog asking to be interviewed, you get to ask them five questions, and the process evolves. It's fun - so try it!
Grammar Maven
Thanks to Suzanne for pointing me to the cool quiz. Check it out yourself and see if you, too, are the bee's knees when it comes to apotrophes, pronouns, and punctuation.
Your Language Arts Grade: 100%
Way to go! You know not to trust the MS Grammar Check and you know "no" from "know." Now, go forth and spread the good word (or at least, the proper use of apostrophes).
Are You Gooder at Grammar?
Make a Quiz
05 May 2007
Sermon, Easter 5
Fran Gardner 6 May 2007 Easter 5 Ontonagon (and Houghton)
We human beings are good at sorting ourselves into subgroups. We do a nice job of delineating who belongs with us, and who does not. Perhaps we do it by how we dress, by skin colour, or by accent. We divide the world into boxes called counties, states, and nations. We identify strongly with the place of our birth, our national origin, and our ethnic background. And to some degree, this categorizing is natural and it makes sense. This dividing up of our selves into groups we belong to is a way of finding some order in a potentially chaotic world. It gives us identity.
We do the same kind of thing regarding our lives of faith. We identify ourselves as Episcopalians or Methodists. We claim to be followers of Mohammed or the Buddha. We name people as Gentile or Jew.
Today, Jesus tells his followers, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Jesus’ message reminds us that is not how we dress, or what we wear that distinguishes us as Christians. It won’t be the cross we wear around our necks or (as the early disciples used) the sign of the fish that will mark us as Jesus’ followers. It will be the love that we show for one another.
Doing some research on this sermon, I googled a song I sang growing up in the RC church. In the end, the words weren’t quite right, so I opted not to use it. However, while on a Christian lyrics website, I saw a fascinating banner ad.
It offered me clothing that would make me Jesus Branded. This Christian clothing company made T-shirts with scripture passages and catchy graphics. It invited me to wear my faith on my sleeve. As if, somehow, wearing a T-shirt showing me to be a Jesus Ninjette (a truly frightening image, actually) or proclaiming “God is love” would mark me as follower of Jesus.
According to this website, all we have to do to demonstrate our faith as Christians is to be Jesus Branded.
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
It shouldn’t be a surprise that contemporary Christians are confused about what is really important, if we are to follow Jesus. It sure didn’t take Jesus’ followers long to manifest the same confusion. It was shortly after Jesus’ death and resurrection when Peter ran into trouble.
Peter was in Joppa and in a dream was told to bring God’s word to some Gentiles. For most Jews, Gentiles were wholly other. Different. Forbidden. Speaking or eating with Gentiles would make you ritually unclean. This message to bring the Good News to the Gentiles would have been anathema to Peter.
In fact, it’s striking that in Peter’s dream, all of the unclean forbidden animals are roughly equivalent, at least in his mind, with those Gentiles. However, God’s message, and God’s subsequent sending of the Holy Spirit to those same Gentiles, convinced Peter that Jesus’ message was for all people, not some small subset that Peter happened to be a part of.
It was the same thing back in Jerusalem, where the Jewish followers of Jesus really needed some convincing. They were furious, and called Peter to account for his actions, certain that Peter had strayed terribly from the core message of Jesus, which they believed was offered only to the Jews.
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Left to our own devices, we might be as confused about what this passage means as Jesus’ followers were. We are naturally good at dividing up, drawing lines, marking people as either in or out. It might be hard for us to imagine a world where what truly marks us as Jesus’ followers, the real Jesus Brand if you will, is our capacity to love.
We overuse love. I’m as likely to tell you that I love ice cream, or kayaking, or board games, or my mother. The love that Jesus is talking about here is not Hallmark card love. It’s not the passionate love of lovers. It is the love that leads to action. This love is not a feeling, it’s a choice. This love is radical and world changing.
It’s the sort of love that tells a story where the hero is a Good Samaritan, a hated non-Jew, rather than a priest or temple authority. It’s the kind of love that offers living water to a non-Jewish woman of questionable moral values at Jacob’s well. It’s the kind of love that says, from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
It’s the sort of love that caused Oscar Romero to speak out against the fighting in El Salvador, even knowing that it might (and ultimately did) cost him his life. It’s the sort of love that prompted Rosa Parks to say no to sitting in the back of the bus, despite enormous personal cost, because she could not longer tolerate living in a racially segregated society. It’s the kind of love that allows Desmond Tutu to speak of forgiveness, despite being personally harmed by South African apartheid. It’s the kind of love that allowed members of the Amish community to reach out to the family of the man who murdered their children, rather than to speak of vengeance.
These examples might sound impossible to us. We are, after all, not Romero, Parks, Tutu, or even members of an Amish community. But we are Christians.
It was fashionable several years ago, to wear a bracelet with the letters WWJD. What Would Jesus Do? It’s a question with great potential. It’s a question that has the capacity to lead us to deeper readings of scripture. There was the possibility, with the rise of WWJD, to resensitize a new generation of Christians to the depths of love and compassion that could be reached at every moment of choice we encounter. It could have provided the true Jesus Brand.
Instead, WWJD turned a deep question, worthy of years of reflection, into a sound bite, a bumper sticker, a question with no teeth, prompting snap judgments and lots of behaviour that didn’t appear to be much like what Jesus might actually have done.
In fact, we don’t have to wonder what Jesus would have done. Scripture is filled with the stories of what Jesus actually did. Our tradition is filled with the stories of holy men and women, prompted by love, who did radical things.
Each time we offer love, rather than hate; an open hand, rather than a fist; comfort and consolation, rather than scathing criticism and critique; we do what Jesus would have done. We brand ourselves with the true Jesus Brand.
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
We human beings are good at sorting ourselves into subgroups. We do a nice job of delineating who belongs with us, and who does not. Perhaps we do it by how we dress, by skin colour, or by accent. We divide the world into boxes called counties, states, and nations. We identify strongly with the place of our birth, our national origin, and our ethnic background. And to some degree, this categorizing is natural and it makes sense. This dividing up of our selves into groups we belong to is a way of finding some order in a potentially chaotic world. It gives us identity.
We do the same kind of thing regarding our lives of faith. We identify ourselves as Episcopalians or Methodists. We claim to be followers of Mohammed or the Buddha. We name people as Gentile or Jew.
Today, Jesus tells his followers, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Jesus’ message reminds us that is not how we dress, or what we wear that distinguishes us as Christians. It won’t be the cross we wear around our necks or (as the early disciples used) the sign of the fish that will mark us as Jesus’ followers. It will be the love that we show for one another.
Doing some research on this sermon, I googled a song I sang growing up in the RC church. In the end, the words weren’t quite right, so I opted not to use it. However, while on a Christian lyrics website, I saw a fascinating banner ad.
It offered me clothing that would make me Jesus Branded. This Christian clothing company made T-shirts with scripture passages and catchy graphics. It invited me to wear my faith on my sleeve. As if, somehow, wearing a T-shirt showing me to be a Jesus Ninjette (a truly frightening image, actually) or proclaiming “God is love” would mark me as follower of Jesus.
According to this website, all we have to do to demonstrate our faith as Christians is to be Jesus Branded.
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
It shouldn’t be a surprise that contemporary Christians are confused about what is really important, if we are to follow Jesus. It sure didn’t take Jesus’ followers long to manifest the same confusion. It was shortly after Jesus’ death and resurrection when Peter ran into trouble.
Peter was in Joppa and in a dream was told to bring God’s word to some Gentiles. For most Jews, Gentiles were wholly other. Different. Forbidden. Speaking or eating with Gentiles would make you ritually unclean. This message to bring the Good News to the Gentiles would have been anathema to Peter.
In fact, it’s striking that in Peter’s dream, all of the unclean forbidden animals are roughly equivalent, at least in his mind, with those Gentiles. However, God’s message, and God’s subsequent sending of the Holy Spirit to those same Gentiles, convinced Peter that Jesus’ message was for all people, not some small subset that Peter happened to be a part of.
It was the same thing back in Jerusalem, where the Jewish followers of Jesus really needed some convincing. They were furious, and called Peter to account for his actions, certain that Peter had strayed terribly from the core message of Jesus, which they believed was offered only to the Jews.
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Left to our own devices, we might be as confused about what this passage means as Jesus’ followers were. We are naturally good at dividing up, drawing lines, marking people as either in or out. It might be hard for us to imagine a world where what truly marks us as Jesus’ followers, the real Jesus Brand if you will, is our capacity to love.
We overuse love. I’m as likely to tell you that I love ice cream, or kayaking, or board games, or my mother. The love that Jesus is talking about here is not Hallmark card love. It’s not the passionate love of lovers. It is the love that leads to action. This love is not a feeling, it’s a choice. This love is radical and world changing.
It’s the sort of love that tells a story where the hero is a Good Samaritan, a hated non-Jew, rather than a priest or temple authority. It’s the kind of love that offers living water to a non-Jewish woman of questionable moral values at Jacob’s well. It’s the kind of love that says, from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
It’s the sort of love that caused Oscar Romero to speak out against the fighting in El Salvador, even knowing that it might (and ultimately did) cost him his life. It’s the sort of love that prompted Rosa Parks to say no to sitting in the back of the bus, despite enormous personal cost, because she could not longer tolerate living in a racially segregated society. It’s the kind of love that allows Desmond Tutu to speak of forgiveness, despite being personally harmed by South African apartheid. It’s the kind of love that allowed members of the Amish community to reach out to the family of the man who murdered their children, rather than to speak of vengeance.
These examples might sound impossible to us. We are, after all, not Romero, Parks, Tutu, or even members of an Amish community. But we are Christians.
It was fashionable several years ago, to wear a bracelet with the letters WWJD. What Would Jesus Do? It’s a question with great potential. It’s a question that has the capacity to lead us to deeper readings of scripture. There was the possibility, with the rise of WWJD, to resensitize a new generation of Christians to the depths of love and compassion that could be reached at every moment of choice we encounter. It could have provided the true Jesus Brand.
Instead, WWJD turned a deep question, worthy of years of reflection, into a sound bite, a bumper sticker, a question with no teeth, prompting snap judgments and lots of behaviour that didn’t appear to be much like what Jesus might actually have done.
In fact, we don’t have to wonder what Jesus would have done. Scripture is filled with the stories of what Jesus actually did. Our tradition is filled with the stories of holy men and women, prompted by love, who did radical things.
Each time we offer love, rather than hate; an open hand, rather than a fist; comfort and consolation, rather than scathing criticism and critique; we do what Jesus would have done. We brand ourselves with the true Jesus Brand.
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
02 May 2007
Interview, Round One
This came to my attention first at Suzanne's Blog, and then at her husband Wayfarer's Blog. I apparently asked them EACH to interview me - so I'll tackle Suzanne's questions first, and then Wayfarer's in the next couple of days.
If you had a day to do anything you wanted to do, with no family or job responsibilities, what would you do?
I would start by sleeping in, that's no shock. But not super-late. Then, I would spend the day outdoors. Hiking, kayaking, picture-taking. The options are endless. I'd pack some good food to eat on the journey. And I would spend the day simply enjoying the beauty that surrounds me here. I've done it a couple of times since moving to the UP, and it's always been a refreshing treat simply to wander about.
You have a one-way ticket to anywhere. Where would you go and why?
At first I thought this was easy, and then I noticed the one-way stipulation. There's no place I'd like to go and not come back here again. But, I would like to really travel in Europe. I don't mean an "If this is Tuesday it must be Paris" sort of tour. I would like to spend three or four months hiking/train traveling around Europe. I want to see the big cathedral and little churches. I want to explore art museums and the great sites of history. I want to eat local foods and drink local drinks. And I want to do it all at a snail's pace, in order to really experience the places where I am. But, I want to come back again.
Who is your favorite 1960s era musician/band, and which of their songs is your favorite? I'm not so much a fan of '60s music. I've been listening, almost exclusively, to the 70s station on XM radio. I was going to choose Queen, and then discovere that they were founded in 1970. ARGH. That having been said, I am partial to both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Forced to choose, I'd have to say "The Long and Winding Road" by the Beatles.
You are on a quest and at the end, you will find your heart’s desire. There are two paths you could follow to arrive at your destination. One is a 600-foot long bridge over a deep chasm (think “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” – “Hang on lady, we go for a ride”). The other is a subterranean pathway deep underground (you’d get a torch, but nothing else to light your way). Which pathway would you take, and what do you expect to find at the end?
I hate, despise, loathe, and fear heights. So this is no contest. I choose the subterranean pathway. What I would find there would be enough money to make a serious difference in the mission and work of the organizations that I believe in and to live comfortably for the rest of my life, so that I could afford to work for less money at the work that I do. I don't need to be super rich, but I do need to eat, be clothed, etc.
I’ll give you one more question, even though the last one was a two-parter...
You get a phone call from NASA. They need a priest on the next space shuttle mission and they want you. You would have to spend the next 6 months training for the mission, months of intense, grueling physical and emotional work. Do you go?
In one short heartbeat. I'm not one of those people who has a burning desire to go to space, but I love adventure. This appeals to me - if NASA wanted chaplains, I'd sign up!
If you had a day to do anything you wanted to do, with no family or job responsibilities, what would you do?
I would start by sleeping in, that's no shock. But not super-late. Then, I would spend the day outdoors. Hiking, kayaking, picture-taking. The options are endless. I'd pack some good food to eat on the journey. And I would spend the day simply enjoying the beauty that surrounds me here. I've done it a couple of times since moving to the UP, and it's always been a refreshing treat simply to wander about.
You have a one-way ticket to anywhere. Where would you go and why?
At first I thought this was easy, and then I noticed the one-way stipulation. There's no place I'd like to go and not come back here again. But, I would like to really travel in Europe. I don't mean an "If this is Tuesday it must be Paris" sort of tour. I would like to spend three or four months hiking/train traveling around Europe. I want to see the big cathedral and little churches. I want to explore art museums and the great sites of history. I want to eat local foods and drink local drinks. And I want to do it all at a snail's pace, in order to really experience the places where I am. But, I want to come back again.
Who is your favorite 1960s era musician/band, and which of their songs is your favorite? I'm not so much a fan of '60s music. I've been listening, almost exclusively, to the 70s station on XM radio. I was going to choose Queen, and then discovere that they were founded in 1970. ARGH. That having been said, I am partial to both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Forced to choose, I'd have to say "The Long and Winding Road" by the Beatles.
You are on a quest and at the end, you will find your heart’s desire. There are two paths you could follow to arrive at your destination. One is a 600-foot long bridge over a deep chasm (think “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” – “Hang on lady, we go for a ride”). The other is a subterranean pathway deep underground (you’d get a torch, but nothing else to light your way). Which pathway would you take, and what do you expect to find at the end?
I hate, despise, loathe, and fear heights. So this is no contest. I choose the subterranean pathway. What I would find there would be enough money to make a serious difference in the mission and work of the organizations that I believe in and to live comfortably for the rest of my life, so that I could afford to work for less money at the work that I do. I don't need to be super rich, but I do need to eat, be clothed, etc.
I’ll give you one more question, even though the last one was a two-parter...
You get a phone call from NASA. They need a priest on the next space shuttle mission and they want you. You would have to spend the next 6 months training for the mission, months of intense, grueling physical and emotional work. Do you go?
In one short heartbeat. I'm not one of those people who has a burning desire to go to space, but I love adventure. This appeals to me - if NASA wanted chaplains, I'd sign up!
OK. Now it’s your turn! Here’s how it works:Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me” I’ll email you five hopefully provocative, entertaining questions. There’ll be different questions from the ones I’ve answered here (that’s the beauty of this!)You update your own blog with the answers to the questions I sent, and include an explanation of how this worked with an offer to interview someone else in the same post.When other people comment on your blog asking to be interviewed, you get to ask them five questions, and the process evolves. It's fun - so try it!
01 May 2007
New Vestments
Emily is a junior at Finlandia University, studying fashion design. Her hope is to find work in Liturgical Design. She made these vestments for me, as a class project this spring. The fabric is summer weight hemp. The dyes are environmentally friendly, as are the inks for the prints. The green set is block printed, the red set is screen printed. They are now sewn together and are reversible. I am so pleased and amazed by what she has done. If you want Em to make some vestments for you, let me know and I'll put you in touch with her. Her summer project is a new alb for me! The stoles match the chasubles.
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