@ Church
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
The Inauguration
Of all the hubbub through the fast few weeks, I just wanted to share the one transcript that actually broke through and said something. It's not so much about the prayers for President Obama, it is more about the prayers for all of us.
From the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson,
Welcome to Washington! The fun is about to begin, but first, please join me in pausing for a moment, to ask God’s blessing upon our nation and our next president.
O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will…
Bless us with tears – for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.
Bless us with anger – at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
Bless us with discomfort – at the easy, simplistic “answers” we’ve preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.
Bless us with patience – and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be “fixed” anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.
Bless us with humility – open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.
Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance – replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.
Bless us with compassion and generosity – remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.
And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.
Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for ALL the people.
Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times.
Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.
Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.
Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.
Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods.
And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand – that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.
AMEN.
From the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson,
Welcome to Washington! The fun is about to begin, but first, please join me in pausing for a moment, to ask God’s blessing upon our nation and our next president.
O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will…
Bless us with tears – for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.
Bless us with anger – at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
Bless us with discomfort – at the easy, simplistic “answers” we’ve preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.
Bless us with patience – and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be “fixed” anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.
Bless us with humility – open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.
Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance – replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.
Bless us with compassion and generosity – remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.
And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.
Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for ALL the people.
Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times.
Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.
Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.
Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.
Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods.
And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand – that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.
AMEN.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Winter Fun
To celebrate the heat wave (50 deg F of temperature swing) a bunch of us decided to grill out.
Turns out grilled peppers + onions are as tasty in Jan as they are in August :) Plus, no sane person would quibble with homemade potato salad, spinach + artichoke dip, and other assorted picnic stuffs. Especially when combined with football.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Christmas 2008
I got a three pie carrier basket!!!
Alternatively it could carry
- one pie and a 3 layer carrot cake
- one pie and a 4 layers strawberry cake
- one pie and any other kind of round cake/casserole/item
!!!
My brother got the necessary equipment for knitting in the round. I desperately wish I had a photo of him trying on his first hat, approximately 1/2 completed, to share. It looked like a baby hat with a tepee on the top was perched on his head.
Alternatively it could carry
- one pie and a 3 layer carrot cake
- one pie and a 4 layers strawberry cake
- one pie and any other kind of round cake/casserole/item
!!!
My brother got the necessary equipment for knitting in the round. I desperately wish I had a photo of him trying on his first hat, approximately 1/2 completed, to share. It looked like a baby hat with a tepee on the top was perched on his head.
Hobby Farm Buying 101
Requirements:
- Minimum 5 acres, preferably 10+
- Not in a flood plain!!!
- Vehicle parking for a car, truck, tractor, and assorted other equipment
- Additional space for a workshop
- A barn with a solid hay mow
- A livable house
- 1/2 hr or less to work
I saw a house on www.realtor.com last summer. It was overpriced, but six months later the price was reduced. Since my down payment fund keeps growing despite the economy, I decided to give the realtor a call.
The place was only 33 minutes from my apt, it would be about 5-10 less to work --- check. By the time I had finished inspecting the Morton building, the smoker, the small garden shed, the old stone garage, the corn crib, the 2 large barns, had eyed the perfectly good shitter, and peered off at the one room schoolhouse and hog house on 9.9 acres, I was thrilled. All the outbuildings I could possibly want, and then some. They were in good shape, pretty conveniently located, etc.
The house was old (100+ years) and the bricks were crying out for a few cracks to be patched and new mortar applied in a few sections. So I knew it would take some money. And surprisingly enough, the addition was OK. The kitchen was drab, the (only) bathroom small, a giant jerky maker/stove thing (ok ok, I have no idea what it was) was taking up valuable space, the basement unfinished. No running water to any other portion of the house. My hopes had started to sag.
Upon stepping into the "old house," my hopes crashed --- uneven floors, a grand total of three small rooms, and no wood work. The second story, which had been described as previously housing 3 bedrooms, was reached via what more closely approximated a ladder than stairs. The attic was bare to the brick walls, and the tenant had laid insulation on the floor to (I assume) help minimize his heating bill. It was barely six feet from floor to ceiling, and the windows were limited.
It got worse.
The basement was reached by "stairs" that were narrow, steep, and were simply resting on some blocks in the basement. The 2nd basement contained not one, but two furnaces, bringing the grand total to 3 --- 2 LP and 1 wood stove (working). The support beam for the 1st story floors was half rotted (gone), and was at least 8 deg from vertical. The frame for the flooring was missing boards, warped, and completely devoid of crossbeams. Let's just say I didn't linger in the old portion of the house on the way back up.
So much for starting my own commune or family compound ;) Or more accurately, I'll stew on this awhile, see if I can devise a plan to build a 2 story addition in place of the current addition. Oh, and I'll start looking at other places, too...
Home buying seems like it might be a little more difficult than I had hoped.
- Minimum 5 acres, preferably 10+
- Not in a flood plain!!!
- Vehicle parking for a car, truck, tractor, and assorted other equipment
- Additional space for a workshop
- A barn with a solid hay mow
- A livable house
- 1/2 hr or less to work
I saw a house on www.realtor.com last summer. It was overpriced, but six months later the price was reduced. Since my down payment fund keeps growing despite the economy, I decided to give the realtor a call.
The place was only 33 minutes from my apt, it would be about 5-10 less to work --- check. By the time I had finished inspecting the Morton building, the smoker, the small garden shed, the old stone garage, the corn crib, the 2 large barns, had eyed the perfectly good shitter, and peered off at the one room schoolhouse and hog house on 9.9 acres, I was thrilled. All the outbuildings I could possibly want, and then some. They were in good shape, pretty conveniently located, etc.
The house was old (100+ years) and the bricks were crying out for a few cracks to be patched and new mortar applied in a few sections. So I knew it would take some money. And surprisingly enough, the addition was OK. The kitchen was drab, the (only) bathroom small, a giant jerky maker/stove thing (ok ok, I have no idea what it was) was taking up valuable space, the basement unfinished. No running water to any other portion of the house. My hopes had started to sag.
Upon stepping into the "old house," my hopes crashed --- uneven floors, a grand total of three small rooms, and no wood work. The second story, which had been described as previously housing 3 bedrooms, was reached via what more closely approximated a ladder than stairs. The attic was bare to the brick walls, and the tenant had laid insulation on the floor to (I assume) help minimize his heating bill. It was barely six feet from floor to ceiling, and the windows were limited.
It got worse.
The basement was reached by "stairs" that were narrow, steep, and were simply resting on some blocks in the basement. The 2nd basement contained not one, but two furnaces, bringing the grand total to 3 --- 2 LP and 1 wood stove (working). The support beam for the 1st story floors was half rotted (gone), and was at least 8 deg from vertical. The frame for the flooring was missing boards, warped, and completely devoid of crossbeams. Let's just say I didn't linger in the old portion of the house on the way back up.
So much for starting my own commune or family compound ;) Or more accurately, I'll stew on this awhile, see if I can devise a plan to build a 2 story addition in place of the current addition. Oh, and I'll start looking at other places, too...
Home buying seems like it might be a little more difficult than I had hoped.
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