Thanks to Kimberly W. and at her encouragment I have added the Followers button on the left margin of this blog page. Kimberly wants others to follow this blog and tells me that this is the way to do it. If you add your address to the Followers then your reference will be displayed among the Followers.
Let's see what happens with it. Both you and I can always change it. I can turn it off and you can remove your contact information if that fits you better.
In faith, John
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Thursday, December 24, 2009
A Christmas story at the bookstore.
This Christmas story occurred on Tuesday, December 22, 2009
We received an order three days before Christmas from our website from Karen. She needed two prayer books to be imprinted with two names on them, and she needed another seven prayer books for the pews in her congregation.
The books to be imprinted our sent to a custom bindery in town because they make the imprinting look very much better than we can do it in the store. The bindery knows how to take vacations. They are closed between Christmas Eve and New Years Day. It was too late to have the books delivered to the bindery for the imprinting. They would be imprinted and returned to us on January 6th.
I thought that Karen ought to know this so I phoned her home. No one answered and I left a message. Looking at her order I noticed the church phone number, but it was after 3:00 PM Seattle time and Karen was in Washington DC, where it was after 6:00 PM. “I might as well try the church and leave a message too.” I thought.
The phone was answered when I called the church. Karen answered. My first question to her was “What are you doing answering the phone at church after 6:00 three days before Christmas?” She replied that the work for Christmas was not completed, and had to be. I then explained about the delay with imprinting the two prayer books.
Here follows the E-mail correspondence that occurred later that day.
Hi Karen,
We have the best customers in the world. And, we have excellent support organizations too.
About twenty minutes ago, “and what to my wondering eyes should appear..” but a little rotund man, so jolly and bright, from the bindery.
As things worked out today we delivered Todd’s and Ellen’s books to the bindery because a fellow was headed that way. That was unplanned and the bindery was working late. As it worked, certainly the Holy Spirit was working too. The bindery owner’s granddaughter needed a ride to her competitive rowing session on a lake somewhat near our store. The bindery owner, grandfather, delivered her and returned your two BCP/Hymnals all nicely imprinted to us.
While Nancy and I listened to Phil’s stories (the price of keeping him happy, and besides, his stories are good ones) Joe, Julie, and Geneva scurried around here, opened cartons, changed invoice information, and closed the cartons with Todd’s and Ellen’s books inside. Joe has just left this ministry-which-is-the-store to transport today’s shipping to the Post Office.
You will receive your completed order before you need it on January 3rd.
Merry Christmas. There is a Santa Claus and he works at and owns the bindery.
With a happy heart,
John
Episcopal Bookstore, Seattle
Karen's reply:
I AM BOWLED OVER! I can't even tell you how this has made me see God at work in my life, even when I doubt it.
Thank you so much to everyone that made this possible, especially you and your co-workers, the bindery owner saint, and the rower granddaughter!
And obviously, you have a customer in St. …, Washington DC for ever and ever, AMEN!
Merry Christmas!
Karen
We received an order three days before Christmas from our website from Karen. She needed two prayer books to be imprinted with two names on them, and she needed another seven prayer books for the pews in her congregation.
The books to be imprinted our sent to a custom bindery in town because they make the imprinting look very much better than we can do it in the store. The bindery knows how to take vacations. They are closed between Christmas Eve and New Years Day. It was too late to have the books delivered to the bindery for the imprinting. They would be imprinted and returned to us on January 6th.
I thought that Karen ought to know this so I phoned her home. No one answered and I left a message. Looking at her order I noticed the church phone number, but it was after 3:00 PM Seattle time and Karen was in Washington DC, where it was after 6:00 PM. “I might as well try the church and leave a message too.” I thought.
The phone was answered when I called the church. Karen answered. My first question to her was “What are you doing answering the phone at church after 6:00 three days before Christmas?” She replied that the work for Christmas was not completed, and had to be. I then explained about the delay with imprinting the two prayer books.
Here follows the E-mail correspondence that occurred later that day.
Hi Karen,
We have the best customers in the world. And, we have excellent support organizations too.
About twenty minutes ago, “and what to my wondering eyes should appear..” but a little rotund man, so jolly and bright, from the bindery.
As things worked out today we delivered Todd’s and Ellen’s books to the bindery because a fellow was headed that way. That was unplanned and the bindery was working late. As it worked, certainly the Holy Spirit was working too. The bindery owner’s granddaughter needed a ride to her competitive rowing session on a lake somewhat near our store. The bindery owner, grandfather, delivered her and returned your two BCP/Hymnals all nicely imprinted to us.
While Nancy and I listened to Phil’s stories (the price of keeping him happy, and besides, his stories are good ones) Joe, Julie, and Geneva scurried around here, opened cartons, changed invoice information, and closed the cartons with Todd’s and Ellen’s books inside. Joe has just left this ministry-which-is-the-store to transport today’s shipping to the Post Office.
You will receive your completed order before you need it on January 3rd.
Merry Christmas. There is a Santa Claus and he works at and owns the bindery.
With a happy heart,
John
Episcopal Bookstore, Seattle
Karen's reply:
I AM BOWLED OVER! I can't even tell you how this has made me see God at work in my life, even when I doubt it.
Thank you so much to everyone that made this possible, especially you and your co-workers, the bindery owner saint, and the rower granddaughter!
And obviously, you have a customer in St. …, Washington DC for ever and ever, AMEN!
Merry Christmas!
Karen
Saturday, December 19, 2009
What is the meaning of Christmas, to me, at this time, this year?
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.
First, there are a couple of books that I enjoy reading, Saving Jesus from the Church, by Robin Meyer, and The First Christmas, by Borg and Crossan. They give me pause to ponder some good ideas.
First, the Borg and Crossan book looks at the biblical record of the birth of Jesus and compares it with the popular Christmas story of our time and culture. You know the story. Joseph was engaged to be married to the young woman Mary. Before they were married Mary informed Joseph that she was pregnant, not from him, not from anybody, and that an angel told her that she would bear a holy son. The two of them traveled to Bethlehem for the census, could not find lodging in an inn and accepted spending the night in a stable with farm animals. During that night the baby Jesus was born. Then they were visited by shepherds and three wise men who traveled on camels from the east.
Borg and Crossan dissect the Gospels and show that each of the parts of the story-that-we-all-know are located in different parts of the Gospels, and upon further reading in each Gospel, the one story does not fit the various writings of Scripture. Was Jesus of Nazareth born in Bethlehem or Jerusalem? A stable or a room? How many wise men? And on and on.
Then, Robin Meyer reminds us of the danger, or impossibility, of reading Scripture as a news story or history story of the actual recordings of events of history. Until the past century or so that has not been, for more than a dozen centuries, the way that Scripture has been understood. Scripture is not a literal historical account. Scripture is metaphor and poetry that tries to describe humankind’s relationship to the ultimately unknowable God, who is at times a stern father figure that specifies rules, at other times, a “person” with whom we can argue and change God’s mind, a nurturing mother, a compassionate, loving, always present friend. God, the Creator of molecules, matter, and the spectrum of energy that includes light, heat, and radiation, who perhaps “designed” water molecules that form bonds of two hydrogen atoms attached to one oxygen atom at an angle of 103 degrees (or is 105 or 105? I have forgotten) that “miraculously” results in water enlarging when in solid form so that it floats on top of its liquid form that allows liquid water to remain beneath the solid state of ice and that allows living organisms to survive deep freezes. Hundreds of billion galaxies that contain hundreds of billions stars in each one, many of which have planets circling them. And gravity that helps hold all sorts of stuff, including planets and galaxies, together.
Christ among us. It means to me, that in all of the unimaginably huge universe that contains all of the galaxies, stars, and “planets in their courses” that on one of those planets where we are fortunate enough to exist, and for the billions of us on this small rock of a planet, God cares enough about each one of us that God became part of us, in human form, fully human and fully divine, to show us how much God cares for us.
Christmas informs me that God is not solely the divine Presence of the universe, but that God also cares intimately for, about, and with each person. God lived and loved, suffered, died, and overcame death, to show us how much God loves us as we are.\
And, what is the meaning to me in all of this, this year? Robin Meyer urges us to not worship Christ, but to live as Jesus lived. And how did Jesus live? He cared for each person as a person. No one was discarded by Jesus. The poor and the diseased mattered more to Jesus than did the rich and powerful. Jesus did not write a book. The most that we record in the Gospels that Jesus wrote was with a stick in the sand that has long since been erased. But Jesus’ influence in our lives, in our world, continues to this day. Yes, we have really, royally screwed up his message, as we have screwed up so much of what is good and worthy in the world. But each day we get to wake up and have the opportunity to try again to live as Jesus lived, loving and caring, and respecting the dignity of every human being. In these more ecologically sensitive times we can no doubt extend that love and respect to each living thing, plant, animal, protist, and fungus.
So, I say, Hurray for Jesus’ birth that showed us that God really, really cares for us individually and collectively, has overcome death to show us what to expect, and forgives us as we need to forgive others. “God among us.” The Incarnation of God as a human being.
First, there are a couple of books that I enjoy reading, Saving Jesus from the Church, by Robin Meyer, and The First Christmas, by Borg and Crossan. They give me pause to ponder some good ideas.
First, the Borg and Crossan book looks at the biblical record of the birth of Jesus and compares it with the popular Christmas story of our time and culture. You know the story. Joseph was engaged to be married to the young woman Mary. Before they were married Mary informed Joseph that she was pregnant, not from him, not from anybody, and that an angel told her that she would bear a holy son. The two of them traveled to Bethlehem for the census, could not find lodging in an inn and accepted spending the night in a stable with farm animals. During that night the baby Jesus was born. Then they were visited by shepherds and three wise men who traveled on camels from the east.
Borg and Crossan dissect the Gospels and show that each of the parts of the story-that-we-all-know are located in different parts of the Gospels, and upon further reading in each Gospel, the one story does not fit the various writings of Scripture. Was Jesus of Nazareth born in Bethlehem or Jerusalem? A stable or a room? How many wise men? And on and on.
Then, Robin Meyer reminds us of the danger, or impossibility, of reading Scripture as a news story or history story of the actual recordings of events of history. Until the past century or so that has not been, for more than a dozen centuries, the way that Scripture has been understood. Scripture is not a literal historical account. Scripture is metaphor and poetry that tries to describe humankind’s relationship to the ultimately unknowable God, who is at times a stern father figure that specifies rules, at other times, a “person” with whom we can argue and change God’s mind, a nurturing mother, a compassionate, loving, always present friend. God, the Creator of molecules, matter, and the spectrum of energy that includes light, heat, and radiation, who perhaps “designed” water molecules that form bonds of two hydrogen atoms attached to one oxygen atom at an angle of 103 degrees (or is 105 or 105? I have forgotten) that “miraculously” results in water enlarging when in solid form so that it floats on top of its liquid form that allows liquid water to remain beneath the solid state of ice and that allows living organisms to survive deep freezes. Hundreds of billion galaxies that contain hundreds of billions stars in each one, many of which have planets circling them. And gravity that helps hold all sorts of stuff, including planets and galaxies, together.
Christ among us. It means to me, that in all of the unimaginably huge universe that contains all of the galaxies, stars, and “planets in their courses” that on one of those planets where we are fortunate enough to exist, and for the billions of us on this small rock of a planet, God cares enough about each one of us that God became part of us, in human form, fully human and fully divine, to show us how much God cares for us.
Christmas informs me that God is not solely the divine Presence of the universe, but that God also cares intimately for, about, and with each person. God lived and loved, suffered, died, and overcame death, to show us how much God loves us as we are.\
And, what is the meaning to me in all of this, this year? Robin Meyer urges us to not worship Christ, but to live as Jesus lived. And how did Jesus live? He cared for each person as a person. No one was discarded by Jesus. The poor and the diseased mattered more to Jesus than did the rich and powerful. Jesus did not write a book. The most that we record in the Gospels that Jesus wrote was with a stick in the sand that has long since been erased. But Jesus’ influence in our lives, in our world, continues to this day. Yes, we have really, royally screwed up his message, as we have screwed up so much of what is good and worthy in the world. But each day we get to wake up and have the opportunity to try again to live as Jesus lived, loving and caring, and respecting the dignity of every human being. In these more ecologically sensitive times we can no doubt extend that love and respect to each living thing, plant, animal, protist, and fungus.
So, I say, Hurray for Jesus’ birth that showed us that God really, really cares for us individually and collectively, has overcome death to show us what to expect, and forgives us as we need to forgive others. “God among us.” The Incarnation of God as a human being.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Happiness is in our expectations.
Garrison Keillor remarked about happiness last week on his radio show. It stuck with me. Here is what I remember from what I heard him say.
Our happiness is based on our expectations. When a situation or result is better than we had anticipated we feel happy.
One strange example that Keillor gave:
You are a passenger on the prison bus going from the county jail to the State prison. The bus encounters mechanical difficulty and pulls over to the side of the road. All of the inmates are removed from the bus. There you are, shackled hand and foot, standing in the ditch at the side of the road and you look around and notice that it is a very nice day. Your heart feels happiness that you are enjoying part of a nice day in the out of doors, even though you are a prisoner, shackled, and standing in a ditch.
Perspective. Happiness results from our perspective and expectations being exceeded.
Our happiness is based on our expectations. When a situation or result is better than we had anticipated we feel happy.
One strange example that Keillor gave:
You are a passenger on the prison bus going from the county jail to the State prison. The bus encounters mechanical difficulty and pulls over to the side of the road. All of the inmates are removed from the bus. There you are, shackled hand and foot, standing in the ditch at the side of the road and you look around and notice that it is a very nice day. Your heart feels happiness that you are enjoying part of a nice day in the out of doors, even though you are a prisoner, shackled, and standing in a ditch.
Perspective. Happiness results from our perspective and expectations being exceeded.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
A hymn
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.
On another topic, we sang a really good hymn in church last Sunday. It was one that resonated with me and my soul. When I returned home I checked in my prayer book to see if I had a copy of that hymn. In the front of my prayer book at home I keep a few extra papers. They are mostly copies of hymns that speak deeply to me. They are hymns that I have trouble singing without choking up with emotion. Perhaps at my funeral someone will look at them and perhaps sing one or more of them.
I want to share this one with you. I think that it “reads” better when set to music, but I can’t do that in this letter so you get just the lyrics and not the music.
These are the treasures to strive for and prize: be gentle, live simply and have the humility to shy from the struggle to put oneself first, these are the pearls.
If mercy’s abandoned by those who’d be brave, economy squandered by those who’d be generous, humility slighted by those who would lead, this is sure death.
Be gentle and you can afford to be bold, be frugal and so have enough to be liberal, be humble and thus be a leader of all, this is the way.
Through gentleness those who attack win the fight, and those who defend have their safety in gentleness; this gentleness rests in the children of God, this is their sign.
On another topic, we sang a really good hymn in church last Sunday. It was one that resonated with me and my soul. When I returned home I checked in my prayer book to see if I had a copy of that hymn. In the front of my prayer book at home I keep a few extra papers. They are mostly copies of hymns that speak deeply to me. They are hymns that I have trouble singing without choking up with emotion. Perhaps at my funeral someone will look at them and perhaps sing one or more of them.
I want to share this one with you. I think that it “reads” better when set to music, but I can’t do that in this letter so you get just the lyrics and not the music.
These are the treasures to strive for and prize: be gentle, live simply and have the humility to shy from the struggle to put oneself first, these are the pearls.
If mercy’s abandoned by those who’d be brave, economy squandered by those who’d be generous, humility slighted by those who would lead, this is sure death.
Be gentle and you can afford to be bold, be frugal and so have enough to be liberal, be humble and thus be a leader of all, this is the way.
Through gentleness those who attack win the fight, and those who defend have their safety in gentleness; this gentleness rests in the children of God, this is their sign.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Our three lives: Public, personal, private
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.
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 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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
