I write weekly letters to my teenage granddaughter. She is a survivor. As with nearly all teenagers she can use emotional support of her family. Sometimes I share here parts of what I write to her. Here is one from this week, modified slightly to read here.
V, another topic that I wanted to write about concerns the three lives that each of us lives. This description has been resonating with me the past few weeks. Each of us has three lives at the same time, our public life, our personal life, and our private life.
Our public life is that which we share with mostly everyone. For you I know that it includes that you are married to Douglas, that you are Russian or come from Russia, that you are smart, and young and beautiful. Some people do not share that they are smart. Others don’t think of themselves as beautiful. For those people they have other qualities that they share with most everyone.
Our personal life is usually shared with those we love, including dear, close friends. In my message at the top of this letter that I sent to my family I include thoughts and feelings about my personal life. I would not and do not share that with customers at the ministry-which-is-the-Episcopal-Bookstore or with most of the people at church or in the community choir, or at the boxing gym.
Our private lives include those thoughts, and perhaps actions, that we do not share with anyone. They include what we think and know that we should not say out loud. At each age in our lives I think that the private thoughts change. What a middle school kid would not want to be caught dead saying may be perfectly acceptable to that same person at age 40 or 50. I think that it is our private lives that are what we share with a counselor or therapist when real work is getting done on our individual issues. If with a counselor we only share the public and personal lives then it is a waste of time for both people.
Each of us works at deciding what thoughts we share as part of each life. I see some people who share personal stuff on Facebook (and for me Twitter is worse at this) that they shouldn’t share. Other people act out in public in ways that I think are at least personal and perhaps private. I know a man in his twenties who scratches his crotch and such when with a group of people. Perhaps he did not learn to not do that in public. I often have wondered about that about him.
And, there is, I think, the constant decision of how much of our private thoughts to share with our spouse or family. You may see in my message to my family that I waited to write to them. I did not want to take away from my brother the trauma that he is going through about his prostate cancer. Finally I decided, with some help from Nancy, that I should share it with them.
Some of our dreams fit into the category of “do I share that with my best friend/spouse or is it better not to?” Further, I think that for some people it is the old slippery slope. I would be embarrassed to share THAT with Nancy so I won’t. Then later something else comes up, “Oh, I would be embarrassed to share that with her.” After awhile there is a long list of things one does not share with anyone. The dam holding the water which are our personal thoughts gets fuller and fuller. Sometimes the dam breaks and all sorts of stuff come out, most of it should have come out much earlier and it would have been easier to deal with it earlier, but I think that is part of our nature.
Perhaps there are other personalities that share way too much. Their private dam does not fill up. I’ve met some whom I have thought should have raised their dam a little bit higher, like “I really did not want to know that personal item about you.!”
In my humble opinion we each decide what to share with others in our public lives, in our personal lives, and what we keep to ourselves in our private lives.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Borg & Crossan at Diocesan Convention
I'm writing from our Diocesan Convention in Vancouver WA where on this second and final day bleary-eyed exhibitors still enjoy talking with delegates and guests.
During convention sessions when few delegates visit our display I've been reading and enjoying The First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Birth, by Marcus Borg and John Crossan. In this volume we learn more about the Christmas story of the Bible, of the Christian tradition, and as if fits our time and culture.
Borg and Crossan show us the vitality of the Christmas stories that are beyond and outside of factual history, and beyond and outside of mythic/legend fiction. The authors instruct us in scholarly biblical theology that differs from the popular cultural depiction of the Christmas birth narratives of today. Borg and Crossan write thoughtful commentary that is very appropriate to read during Advent as we prepare for Christmas.
During convention sessions when few delegates visit our display I've been reading and enjoying The First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Birth, by Marcus Borg and John Crossan. In this volume we learn more about the Christmas story of the Bible, of the Christian tradition, and as if fits our time and culture.
Borg and Crossan show us the vitality of the Christmas stories that are beyond and outside of factual history, and beyond and outside of mythic/legend fiction. The authors instruct us in scholarly biblical theology that differs from the popular cultural depiction of the Christmas birth narratives of today. Borg and Crossan write thoughtful commentary that is very appropriate to read during Advent as we prepare for Christmas.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
The parish surfing picnic
Grace Episcopal Church, San Marcos CA sponsored a church outing and picnic a week ago Sunday. I was blessed to be able to attend it. It was unlike any church picnic that I have attended in my life. It was a surfing picnic.
About thirty members of the congregation, of all ages, drove about 20 minutes from their church building directly after the main worship service last Sunday morning, to a public beach in Carlsbad CA. They brought food, surfboards, boogie boards, beach chairs, and beach towels with them. The parish banner on its staff was one of the first items on the beach. It informed the participants as well as the others that this was a church gathering.
Perhaps a dozen surfboards and as many boogie boards were brought by a few of the church members for the participants of the party to use. Two older men, Tom and Gary, who have surfed all of their lives encouraged everyone by giving instruction to groups and individuals. They did not hotdog by showing off all of the fancy maneuvers that they could perform. It was clear that they were there to help others, to encourage others to get out in the water and have fun safely.
Throughout the afternoon young kids to senior citizens picked up a surfboard or boogie board and gave the surf a try. The usual activity was to take an idle board out in the surf and play and practice with it for awhile. Then the person would bring it back to the party on the beach, put down the board, stop by the refreshments and get something to drink or a hotdog and some chips to eat. There would be conversing with others and watching others have fun in the surf, then, when the spirit moved them, they would pick up a different board and go back out to try something else.
Those on the shore, while conversing, watched the participants in the surf. There were cheers for even small successes and laughter frequently. Some of the surfers would end their ride or their fall with a graceful bow to the cheers and laughter on the beach.
I am confident in stating that a good time was had by all.
Ocean surf is a few hours away from my home parish in Seattle. Surfing is not a popular activity in my home parish. We don’t have surfing picnics after worship on Sunday. I wish that we did. Surely God was present with Grace Church at the beach in Southern California last week.
About thirty members of the congregation, of all ages, drove about 20 minutes from their church building directly after the main worship service last Sunday morning, to a public beach in Carlsbad CA. They brought food, surfboards, boogie boards, beach chairs, and beach towels with them. The parish banner on its staff was one of the first items on the beach. It informed the participants as well as the others that this was a church gathering.
Perhaps a dozen surfboards and as many boogie boards were brought by a few of the church members for the participants of the party to use. Two older men, Tom and Gary, who have surfed all of their lives encouraged everyone by giving instruction to groups and individuals. They did not hotdog by showing off all of the fancy maneuvers that they could perform. It was clear that they were there to help others, to encourage others to get out in the water and have fun safely.
Throughout the afternoon young kids to senior citizens picked up a surfboard or boogie board and gave the surf a try. The usual activity was to take an idle board out in the surf and play and practice with it for awhile. Then the person would bring it back to the party on the beach, put down the board, stop by the refreshments and get something to drink or a hotdog and some chips to eat. There would be conversing with others and watching others have fun in the surf, then, when the spirit moved them, they would pick up a different board and go back out to try something else.
Those on the shore, while conversing, watched the participants in the surf. There were cheers for even small successes and laughter frequently. Some of the surfers would end their ride or their fall with a graceful bow to the cheers and laughter on the beach.
I am confident in stating that a good time was had by all.
Ocean surf is a few hours away from my home parish in Seattle. Surfing is not a popular activity in my home parish. We don’t have surfing picnics after worship on Sunday. I wish that we did. Surely God was present with Grace Church at the beach in Southern California last week.
Posting here had been delayed, but I'm back
I have not posted a blog in too long a period of time. There are a few reasons for this. Most of them revolve around reluctance to write drivel. There seems to be so much drivel written these days and I have not wanted to add to it.
One solution that may work for me involves choosing a specific person, in my head, and write what may make sense to that one person. If others “listen in” it is acceptable to me, at least now. It’s not so much that I have nothing to say. I keep thinking and continue to have a dialog, at least in my head. It is more difficult, I think, for introverts, and especially male introverts, to write their thoughts to groups of others.
One way I can get past the tendency to keep my thoughts to myself is to begin writing to so-and-so. Perhaps that is you today. What do you think about that?
Whatever the reason, I am now back in a different frame of mind and intend to keep posting to this blog.
One solution that may work for me involves choosing a specific person, in my head, and write what may make sense to that one person. If others “listen in” it is acceptable to me, at least now. It’s not so much that I have nothing to say. I keep thinking and continue to have a dialog, at least in my head. It is more difficult, I think, for introverts, and especially male introverts, to write their thoughts to groups of others.
One way I can get past the tendency to keep my thoughts to myself is to begin writing to so-and-so. Perhaps that is you today. What do you think about that?
Whatever the reason, I am now back in a different frame of mind and intend to keep posting to this blog.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Quote from the Presiding Bishop
I read the following passage this morning in Presiding Bp, Katharine Jefferts Schori’s new book, Gospel in the Global Village: Seeking God’s Dream of Shalom.
Read: Joshua 24:14-18; John 3:1-12; Surah al-Ma’ida (5):48 texts on religion and violence from three Abrahamic faiths.
Bp. Katharine states:
How do we hear these texts? As Jews, Christians, or Muslims, do we hear only our own tradition?
Do we hear with the ears of one who has been liberated from slavery? Then choose this day to serve the God who has done that.
Do we hear what we have always heard, justification for where we are, what we believe, the community in which we live and move and have our comfortable being? Careful—nobody gets to see the kingdom on God without being born again.
Do we hear with the assumption that we have the full and final and only truth? Well, God is still as work—don’t be too eternally certain.
Read: Joshua 24:14-18; John 3:1-12; Surah al-Ma’ida (5):48 texts on religion and violence from three Abrahamic faiths.
Bp. Katharine states:
How do we hear these texts? As Jews, Christians, or Muslims, do we hear only our own tradition?
Do we hear with the ears of one who has been liberated from slavery? Then choose this day to serve the God who has done that.
Do we hear what we have always heard, justification for where we are, what we believe, the community in which we live and move and have our comfortable being? Careful—nobody gets to see the kingdom on God without being born again.
Do we hear with the assumption that we have the full and final and only truth? Well, God is still as work—don’t be too eternally certain.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
What I have learned from Link Light Rail
I have been learning a new lesson. The new Link Light Rail project in Seattle has set an example for me. It is not about riding the light rail train in place of my “global warmer” vehicle. Besides, it is difficult to get me out of my electric vehicle conversion that I drive daily. Further, Link Light Rail does not travel where I need to go.
However, the Light Rail project has taught me by example about studying and learning before it is “crunch time.” Fully one month before the light rail trains opened their doors to the public which happened a couple of weeks ago they were running the routes. For several weeks I saw the light rail trains running on their tracks without riders. It was easy to think, “That’s dumb. They are just driving the trains for weeks at a time without riders.”
During this initial phase they were breaking in the equipment and breaking in the engineers who would be driving the trains. I think that they also used those practice runs to set the train schedules.
In most other civic projects additions are made to what is already in place. For instance the bus system may add new drivers, new buses, or even new routes, but they are adding on to a system that is up and running. Light Rail is a completely new public project for Seattle.
What I have learned from Link Light Rail for my own life is how good it is to start a new project while the old one is still functioning. Run both projects side by side for longer than one might think is needed. When the new system is beyond working out the flaws and bugs, then one can switch over to the new system in a more seamless manner.
At our store I have been investigating a new postage and mailing label system. If, or when, we use it there will be many aspects of our routine that will change. It is critical to make certain that all of the bugs are out of the system before it takes over as the sole method of producing mailing labels with postage on them.
More details. From an offer I received in the mail I hesitatingly tried Stamps.com for creating mailing labels and postage for our shipping needs. For the first few days Stamps.com looked good. It was easy to use. The graphics were very helpful. Their technical support reps on the phone were excellent and always available.
Always, always, verify by trying out the technical support system before you purchase or use a program. They can make or break a good application. I have seen more than one bookstore, and certainly one book distribution facility go out of business due directly to adopting a new computerized system that had too many flaws for them to continue in business. Using Stamps.com showed me a system that would improve our store operations and our shipping methods. It imbued me with enthusiasm, but its design did not fit our needs.
After several different attempts and a couple of phone calls I learned that Stamps.com is designed for customers with a much smaller address book than we have. Loading our whole address book on to their software was possible, but it was unusable. Stamps.com’s search method for the addresses was not compatible with our addresses. Reluctantly I cancelled our trial subscription with them.
By further searching I found another company with a similar application. Endicia is built for larger mailing operations. Ah, but, Endicia is a company that has been purchased by a multi-national corporation. They have trimmed their expenses. From my experience the wait on the phone to talk with a technical service person averages about 30-minutes. Such a long wait is intolerable for our business. We can not afford to have me, or anyone of us, wait on hold for 30-minutes. Endicia offers a somewhat extensive technical database on their website. If I am patient, read directions carefully, follow their links to further instructions, and am not interrupted by customers, phone calls, or staff questions, then the information that I need is generally available. There remains an issue with the address book, but for this issue we have developed a “work-around” method that looks functional. I think that we can make the work around satisfy our needs.
In the past couple of weeks, when I have had the time, and for a few customers, I’ve tried using Endicia. I see that, especially when we purchase the correct printer and postal scale, it will very likely save us time and money. There is more testing yet to be done before we change our shipping routines and cancel our relationship with the postage meter supplier, and make the commitment to using Endicia as our sole shipping label system. I think that we are at about a 90% commitment to Endicia. In another week or so I expect that we will make the decision.
Thanks to Link Light Rail I know that we need to test, test, and retest the new system and all of its components. Then we will run them side-by-side for some time until we fully commit to the new system and change our routines. This is just one more example of how this ministry-which-is-the-store continues to be an enjoyable and challenging learning experience.
However, the Light Rail project has taught me by example about studying and learning before it is “crunch time.” Fully one month before the light rail trains opened their doors to the public which happened a couple of weeks ago they were running the routes. For several weeks I saw the light rail trains running on their tracks without riders. It was easy to think, “That’s dumb. They are just driving the trains for weeks at a time without riders.”
During this initial phase they were breaking in the equipment and breaking in the engineers who would be driving the trains. I think that they also used those practice runs to set the train schedules.
In most other civic projects additions are made to what is already in place. For instance the bus system may add new drivers, new buses, or even new routes, but they are adding on to a system that is up and running. Light Rail is a completely new public project for Seattle.
What I have learned from Link Light Rail for my own life is how good it is to start a new project while the old one is still functioning. Run both projects side by side for longer than one might think is needed. When the new system is beyond working out the flaws and bugs, then one can switch over to the new system in a more seamless manner.
At our store I have been investigating a new postage and mailing label system. If, or when, we use it there will be many aspects of our routine that will change. It is critical to make certain that all of the bugs are out of the system before it takes over as the sole method of producing mailing labels with postage on them.
More details. From an offer I received in the mail I hesitatingly tried Stamps.com for creating mailing labels and postage for our shipping needs. For the first few days Stamps.com looked good. It was easy to use. The graphics were very helpful. Their technical support reps on the phone were excellent and always available.
Always, always, verify by trying out the technical support system before you purchase or use a program. They can make or break a good application. I have seen more than one bookstore, and certainly one book distribution facility go out of business due directly to adopting a new computerized system that had too many flaws for them to continue in business. Using Stamps.com showed me a system that would improve our store operations and our shipping methods. It imbued me with enthusiasm, but its design did not fit our needs.
After several different attempts and a couple of phone calls I learned that Stamps.com is designed for customers with a much smaller address book than we have. Loading our whole address book on to their software was possible, but it was unusable. Stamps.com’s search method for the addresses was not compatible with our addresses. Reluctantly I cancelled our trial subscription with them.
By further searching I found another company with a similar application. Endicia is built for larger mailing operations. Ah, but, Endicia is a company that has been purchased by a multi-national corporation. They have trimmed their expenses. From my experience the wait on the phone to talk with a technical service person averages about 30-minutes. Such a long wait is intolerable for our business. We can not afford to have me, or anyone of us, wait on hold for 30-minutes. Endicia offers a somewhat extensive technical database on their website. If I am patient, read directions carefully, follow their links to further instructions, and am not interrupted by customers, phone calls, or staff questions, then the information that I need is generally available. There remains an issue with the address book, but for this issue we have developed a “work-around” method that looks functional. I think that we can make the work around satisfy our needs.
In the past couple of weeks, when I have had the time, and for a few customers, I’ve tried using Endicia. I see that, especially when we purchase the correct printer and postal scale, it will very likely save us time and money. There is more testing yet to be done before we change our shipping routines and cancel our relationship with the postage meter supplier, and make the commitment to using Endicia as our sole shipping label system. I think that we are at about a 90% commitment to Endicia. In another week or so I expect that we will make the decision.
Thanks to Link Light Rail I know that we need to test, test, and retest the new system and all of its components. Then we will run them side-by-side for some time until we fully commit to the new system and change our routines. This is just one more example of how this ministry-which-is-the-store continues to be an enjoyable and challenging learning experience.
Monday, July 13, 2009
The woman who wanted a Bible
Our store is in the middle of our annual Summer Sale. Part of the sale includes what we refer to as Porch Books. They are books that were on sale last summer and then throughout the rest of the year, and still have not sold. We put them in display boxes on our front porch (well, it is hardly a porch, but it is outside the front door).
Another part of this story concerns a few of our visitors who see the world differently than I do. One woman came in this week carrying two Porch Books. She asked, “Are these Bibles?” One was a full-size hardcover book that was a Church Annual that lists all of the congregations, their addresses, and the names of the clergy. It is certainly not a Bible. The other was a non-descript paperback book. It was very obvious to me that neither of those books were Bibles. I replied to her, “No, those are not Bibles. Do you want a Bible?” “Yes,” she said and immediately deposited those two books on the counter and went back outside. She then came in with two other books and asked if they were Bibles. Once again I said “No.” And, I asked if I could help her find a Bible. She wanted a Bible for one dollar but we did not have one for even $10 that I may have given to her for a dollar. She finally purchased a dollar book that included some Bible quotes in it.
What was obvious to me was that this woman could not read. She had no idea about what the words inside a book looked like to be called a Bible. I was deeply saddened that she was so handicapped that she could not determine on her own the kind of contents that was in a book. A bible usually has written on its cover the word “Bible.” She could not determine even that much. Another feeling that I had for her was worry about how vulnerable that woman was to anyone who could read words when she couldn’t. How easily she could be taken advantage of or be harmed by people who know the meaning of written words. At the same time, she knew that having a bible was important and she wanted one, even if she could not read it.
Ah. My heart hurts for her.
Another part of this story concerns a few of our visitors who see the world differently than I do. One woman came in this week carrying two Porch Books. She asked, “Are these Bibles?” One was a full-size hardcover book that was a Church Annual that lists all of the congregations, their addresses, and the names of the clergy. It is certainly not a Bible. The other was a non-descript paperback book. It was very obvious to me that neither of those books were Bibles. I replied to her, “No, those are not Bibles. Do you want a Bible?” “Yes,” she said and immediately deposited those two books on the counter and went back outside. She then came in with two other books and asked if they were Bibles. Once again I said “No.” And, I asked if I could help her find a Bible. She wanted a Bible for one dollar but we did not have one for even $10 that I may have given to her for a dollar. She finally purchased a dollar book that included some Bible quotes in it.
What was obvious to me was that this woman could not read. She had no idea about what the words inside a book looked like to be called a Bible. I was deeply saddened that she was so handicapped that she could not determine on her own the kind of contents that was in a book. A bible usually has written on its cover the word “Bible.” She could not determine even that much. Another feeling that I had for her was worry about how vulnerable that woman was to anyone who could read words when she couldn’t. How easily she could be taken advantage of or be harmed by people who know the meaning of written words. At the same time, she knew that having a bible was important and she wanted one, even if she could not read it.
Ah. My heart hurts for her.
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