From The Deacon's Bench

 As I sat down to start writing this latest post to my blog, I took a look back at my previous entries.  I couldn't believe my eyes...I never realized that I have been using this format since March 2019.  Within a year of that start date, COVID-19 advanced to the point that public gatherings including most church services were suspended. All of this is on my mind, since my wife Sarah and I just received our latest booster injections of Covid-19 vaccine. As of August 20, 2023, 6,910,396 people have died from Covid-19.  Even with having all of our injections and boosters as they became available, we both have tested positive for Covid-19 during the past several years. As a result, we have become very cautious of surroundings and only recently have started to unmask more in public.  It is indeed a human trait to want to return to "normal".  But given the potential hazard that still potentially exists, one needs to use their best judgement in all situations. Ev...

Words can do so much.  At times they can provide more healing than the most skillful Doctor.  At other times, they can provide more pain than the most of us have ever experienced in our lives. Finding the "right" words to say can at times be quite a challenge.  As a result, too often things go "unsaid".  Yet, at other times saying too much can cause more confusion or pain than was intended.   Sometimes we use too many words to make our point.  So, this month I'm going to use these few words to remind all of us to always choose our words wisely and to always be aware that our words do matter.

This month, in searching for a "new" topic for my blog post, I was becoming frustrated and after several starts and revisions and finally rejections, I was afraid that I would have nothing to write about.  Then it hit me, why not write about fear!  Surly, given the state of the world both politically and environmentally, there is much to be afraid of. So, I thought to myself, why not...and I started to do a little research.  One of the first things I did was to lookup the definition of fear.  I came across something that truly made me stop in my tracks, something that, while I' know I heard of, I never realized that I was completely wrong about.  Here are the definitions of fear from merriam-webster.com. 1 a: an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger   b: an instance of this emotion   c: a state marked by this emotion 2: anxious concern : SOLICITUDE 3: profound reverence and awe especially toward God 4: reaso...

  As I sit down to write this month's blog post, I am in the middle of taking care of several pre-vacation chores.  Planning what clothes to pack, deciding which ones need to be cleaned, checking the weather at our destination to decide if something is too heavy or too light.  How many of each item of clothing, what will not get too wrinkled or take up too much luggage space.  How "dressed-up" do I need to be? Thank goodness, my wife Sarah is the super-planner who takes care of reservations, transportation and travel documents and every other aspect of planning, I would be totally lost and late without her. During Morning Prayer today, I read Luke's Gospel 10:25-37.  As I reflected on that Gospel lesson where the man is left half dead on the side of the road after being beaten and stripped by robbers and people just passed by and didn't even "see" him, it struck me... how often do we get caught up in planning, preparing and all of the other "jobs...

Sometimes a little space can make all the difference in the world.  Take a look at this... May Day : a day we in the northern hemisphere have historically reserved for fun springtime activities, like the maypole and picnics; a day when we can see summer and sprinklers and Popsicles right around the corner. Mayday is an internationally recognized radio word to signal distress. It's used mostly by aircraft and boats, and most of us are happily only familiar with it through TV and fiction. It appears as both an interjection ("Mayday! Mayday!") and to modify a noun ("a mayday signal"). What a difference a space and capitalization of letters can make! This is not what I originally had in mind to write about this month, but due to circumstances beyond my control, time got away from me, and I realized it was May 2nd and I had not gotten any farther than a title for my post.   That's when the MAYDAY signal went off in my head.  But what was I going to do?????...

Wow, all of a sudden, I realized that it is already March, and I haven't even started to work on my monthly "From the Deacons Bench" blog post.    Even now as I am trying to put this together, I am distracted by other things happening all at the same time.  I am feeling pulled in many directions at once. Now, please don't get me wrong, I am NOT comparing my life with the life of Jesus or me to Jesus, but all of what is now happening in my life DOES help me to better understand the "Human" life of Jesus. Jesus was at times pulled in different directions, by others around Him, and struggled with keeping a sense of balance.  One prime example of this are the events that happened at the wedding banquet in Cana.  Jesus was not yet ready to publicly show his miraculous powers.  Yet his mother prevails upon him to help save the reputation of the bridegroom because the wine was running out and the banquet was far from being over.  Mary knew that her son would ...

 My computer is located on a desk in the loft of our home, in front of a window that looks out at a group of trees.  Most of the trees are evergreens, but a few are deciduous.  Right now, that means I can see some green mixed with bare branches. The grass areas are also a mixture of green and brown.  For the past few days, the sky has been overcast and gray.  It has been raining on and off.   This view out of my window and the current weather conditions combine to offer up a rather depressed view of the world.  Add to that, the news reports of multiple acts of gun violence and mass shootings, the war in Ukraine, thousands of deaths due to a virus and the downward spiral seems to continue. Where does one turn in times like this? There is no simple, clear-cut answer to that question.  The answer to that question is indeed as complex as the causes of the depression.  Our emotions bounce from outrage to fear to confusion or to a numbness of ...

Crossroads can be defined as follows: a road that crosses a main road or joins two main roads a point at which a crucial decision must be made that will have far-reaching consequences As I sit down to write this, we all, as individuals and as a nation are in fact at a crossroads.   Where do we go from here?  What direction do we need to take?  Which map should we follow?  All of those questions can be applied to either definition of crossroads.  For me personally, I find that I am at a crossroads when it comes to commenting on things in politics.  At times as an ordained clergyperson, I feel that it is not my place to make "political" comments, yet I also have a responsibility to minister to the needs of all people and to encourage others to do the same.  Do I just sit quietly and offer prayers for those individuals who fled poverty, oppression and danger in their home countries, only to be used as "political pawns" and as "props" in an ideologica...

 As I sit down to write this edition, November is ending, December is beginning, and we are in the first week of Advent, 2022.  This is truly a time of the year where the battlelines of Church vs. World are very strong. Advent is defined as a penitential season.  It is a time for prayer, quiet reflection and spiritual renewal.  It is spiritually just the opposite of what our earthly world envisions...parties, shopping for gifts, treats, getting filled with the holiday "spirits" and "good cheer". As a young child, I remember that Christmas was a time for family events, but it was not on the scale of today's celebrations.  Easter was THE holiday.  Think about it... Holiday comes from holy + day and it originally referred only to special religious days.  Easter...The Resurrection of Christ... wow .   Some will say that hey wait...Christmas...The Virgin Birth of Christ... wow .  Yes, both events were indeed WOW moments.   Somehow,...

 As I sit down at my computer to start writing this edition of my blog, it is mid-October.  Here in the North Central part of the USA that means that Fall is upon us.  As I look out of my windows today, I see many patches of grass covered with fallen leaves.  I see trees that are a mixture of green and red/orange leaves.  Soon those leaves will turn fully red or orange or yellow or brown and fall to the ground. Since I have lived my entire life in this part of the world, this change is not anything new.  I began to wonder what it might be like for someone who has lived their entire life in a place like Ecuador where the temperature remains constant at about 75 degrees all year long.  Where there are no real seasonal changes, and perhaps the only change is one part of the year may have more rain than other parts. What would that person think if they were to be brought to this part of the world at this time of year?  I don't have an answer to that, ...

In 1993, Paul Simon and Art Garfinkle wrote and recorded the song "The Sound of Silence".  One of the lyrics is "People hearing without listening", those words struck me very deeply when I first heard them and have stuck with me ever since. I can only speak with authority about myself when it comes to hearing without listening, but I don't think I'm alone in doing just that.  There are times when we are so focused on our own agenda that we leave little or no room to "hear" what others are saying.  There are also times when we are so sure that we are "right" that we totally discount the opinions of others. Yes, there are indeed times when we are right and even listening carefully to others and "Hearing" them we will not change our minds.  The important part of this is to genuinely listen to and consider the other point of view...I believe that is what we are called to do. I also have come to believe that before we "make up o...

Throughout my life, I must admit that I have not spent a great deal of time visiting art museums.  While I have a great deal of admiration for the individuals who can create great "works of art", and I don't mind seeing them on display, doing so has never been high on my priority list.  I do have one vivid memory however, that I will share with you. In the early 1970's I was in Paris and visited the Louvre Museum.  I couldn't wait to see the Mona Lisa.  When I finally did, my first reaction was wow, it's soooooo small!  Well, it took me some time to realize that in fact, the painting was not all that small, but because it was displayed all by itself on an otherwise blank wall with no other paintings nearby, to me it looked small... Perspective Perspective is defined as "a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view."  Many factors can influence one's perspective.  It is important to remember that just because we perc...

We learn from our mistakes; I grew up hearing this saying.  I realize that I never gave it much thought, and pretty much accepted it as a sensible way to approach things. However, there are days, in fact many more lately, that I think... "If we really learn from our mistakes, why the heck are repeating them over and over?"  I'm not just referring to us as individuals, but also to humankind in general.  As one looks at the history of humankind, we see the same destructive behaviors play out in various places throughout the world over and over again. Just when we think, "It can't get much worse" it does...because the destructive behaviors get more heinous, and the response gets worse because there is less of an outrage and more acceptance. It's almost like, if we don't talk about it, it doesn't exist.  Kind of alike a child hiding their eyes at the scarry parts of a movie. It also brings to mind another "old saying"...Don't rock t...

This seemingly simple three lettered word is actually the root of the many complex issues that we all face.  For those of us who have raised children, we soon learn that why can be the question simply because a child wants to know how something works or... it can be the question because the child does not want to do something they are being told to do.  In my experience growing up, when I asked why for that second reason, the answer would generally be "because I said so!" As I matured, asking why became the motivation for me to explore and seek answers.  I wish I could say that I have always been successful in my quest but just because I did not "find" an answer doesn't mean that I would never revisit it. Throughout Holy Scripture, we find so many examples of individuals seeking answers, and turning to God to help them in their quest.  My own experience has often taken me to a place where I too have sought help from God.  Through that, I have learned that God pr...

 Having lived my entire life here in the northeastern part of the United States, so a result, I am very used to the changes in seasons.  We have four seasons here (not just the "senior" communities like many of us live in,) but four different types of weather each year.  Right now, as I write this, it is late Spring.  Looking out of my windows, I see new leaves returning to deciduous trees, evergreen trees brightening in color, iris plants blooming and shrubs that will soon need pruning to insure good growth. That is just one type of growing, I also see my grandsons growing from children to young adults and my granddaughters growing not only in size but also in maturity.  I have been attending Episcopal churches since the late 1970's.  I have served on the Vestry/Mission Committee at several parishes.  Since my Ordination fifteen years ago (as of June 9th) I have continued to attend Vestry/Mission Committee meetings with voice but no vote.   ...

 Let me start with an example of one little letter making a huge difference: Deacon...Decon A Deacon in the Roman Catholic and Episcopal churches is a member of the Ordained ministry.  They have specific duties during the celebration of various liturgies, and they also carry out ministries of "service" to the greater church community and the community outside of the church walls. Decon is the brand name of a poison used to kill rodents  So, in a way, that little "e" is the difference between life and death. With that in mind, I want to remind all of you that all of those little things that you do for others from a welcoming smile to a newcomer in Church, to holding a door open for someone who is having mobility issues to letting that person with only two items at the check-out in the grocery store to get in front of you in line, to offer a smile to a stranger who looks sad.  All of these little things DO make a difference. During the past several years, all of our l...

 There is a very old saying that goes like this: "Time Flies When You Are Having Fun".  Well, I guess that I can't exactly use that excuse for not having a post ready for this Blog by the first of March.  The concepts of fun and Lent don't usually go together.  For many of us, our Lenten disciplines focus on giving up things that are fun or enjoyable.  I do find writing this Blog quite enjoyable, and I would like to say that that is why I did not have a March offering completed on time, but I can't honestly make that statement.  In looking back at my calendar, I do see that I was very involved with various Doctor's appointments, bloodwork, "Ashes To Go" prep, car repair appointments and sermon prep during the last week of February and the first few days of March, so, since I usually don't write "Blog Prep" in my calendar, it just got "lost in the sauce" so to speak. Since my last posting, I celebrated my 75th birthday.  When I...

I have been attending Episcopal Churches for about 50 years.  Over those years, I attended, or was assigned to, at least eight different parishes.  Not being one to just sit in the congregation only on Sundays, I always became "involved".  I cannot even begin to put a number on all of the various meetings I have attended.   While the locations changed, and the subject of the "work" that the committee was undertaking changed, one common thread has been present.  Things would be going along well until... that four lettered word (which actually contains six letters) would come up. You know the one, right?  Yes...C H A N G E I can't begin to tell you how often I sat with folks attempting to come up with strategies to introduce a change.  Also, the countless ways to try to counter the inevitable reply "I don't think we need to change that, after all "we've always done it that way" .  Quite often that would be followed-up with this other ditty.....

  I don’t know about you, but as we begin a “new” year, I often look back in history to see what was happening not only during the most recent “last year” but also decades ago.   There is one thing that I have learned from this exercise…we humans seem to continue to make the same mistakes over and over and over again. It’s one thing to make one kind of mistake, learn from it and not repeat that mistake, but it is entirely different when we make the same exact mistake over and over again. When God created us, he afforded us “free will”, which is a wonderful gift, and I can’t imagine what our lives would be like without it.    However, I think that we are often seeing demonstrated lately is “free will” without any thought as to what the consequences of the act may be. As children, we all made mistakes.   When our parents became aware of those mistakes, often, they would use it as a “teaching moment”.   Depending on the exact situation, that “teaching” ...

  For some time now, I have been receiving a daily meditation e-mail from the Henri Nouwen Society.  I find that these meditations usually help me get started on the right path for the day.  I will admit that I don't always stay on that path, but I'm getting better. I'm going to share the following recent meditation that really "spoke" to me.                                                   Fools for Christ Sometimes we have to dare to be fools for Christ. That means that sometimes we have to be willing to give food to people who don’t really need or deserve it. And sometimes we have to be willing to work with some people who might even exploit us. Maybe this is as close as we can come to an experience of self-emptying. It is the experience of being useless in the presence of the Lord. Understand me well, I am not trying to...