Who's the patron saint of tagging?

Tripp has passed on the gift of the following meme:

Name your four favorite saints, your favorite blessed saint, and the person you think should be canonized.

I don't have an icon corner like the Anglobaptist, but...
Favorite saints:

• Aidan (biblical scholar and preacher, and the subject of the window across from my favorite seat in the seminary chapel).
• Cecelia (patron of music; someone has to help me with all those tunes in my head)
• Jerome (what's not to love about a book saint?)
• Mary Magdalen (apostle to the apostles, and for two thousand years sufferer from a bad rep-- being conflated with a sinful woman)

Then there's Blessed Catherine Kasper, founder of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ. I worked with and learned a great deal of respect for members of the order, back in Indiana.

Who should be canonized? Hard to say. However, I'm a believer in every day saints, so one that comes to mind is Jo-- the sweet woman who for more than 60 years has been the organist at Our Saviour, smiling cheerfully and bringing light to the lives of everyone she meets. If you have a Jo in your life, you are blessed indeed.

Now, as to tags: how about Rev. Ref, Mary, Micah and Andrew? Yes, that will do.

Copycats? Oh, goody.

From this week's local newspaper:

A bomb threat scrawled on the wall of the boys' bathroom stall on the third floor of the Middle School caused school administrators to release students a few minutes early Monday afternoon...

Several bomb threats have been reported at high schools and middle schools in Billings since the shooting spree last week at Virginia Tech that took the lives of 35 people.

No, there have been no bombs. Just students with more time and less sense than they should have.

Lord, have mercy.

Baby Got Book!

This parody of "Baby Got Back" had me flashing back to seminary, where the Librarian wrote and produced a video for our student awards night: "Short Skirt, Long Cassock."

Props to Quotidian Grace for my morning wake-up call. This is priceless.

Word gets around in a small, small town. . .

. . . even one as large as this state.

The youth of St. James, Bozeman learned of the damage to the bishop's crozier-- and have (no doubt after significant thought and prayer) come up with their solution to the crisis:

The Bishop's Visitation

This Sunday was our bishop's annual visitation. This is a big deal in Episcopal churches, and perhaps more so here than in some places. Montana is a big state, and we are several hours from the cathedral in Helena, so it's not like he can simply stop by on a whim. Additionally, we are still in many ways recovering from the "ministry" of his predecessor (who was deposed by the national church-- and, as such things go, not nearly soon enough). So having a positive pastoral interaction with the episcopate had been a rare thing until the last few years.

Bp. Brookhart is a good man-- faithful, plainspoken, and with a kind heart. He met with all four vestries on Saturday, and then took the clergy and spouse (singular-- just my husband, as Randy's wife was otherwise committed) out for a lovely dinner. Then Sunday he celebrated the Eucharist at two of our altars, and folks were delighted to see and spend time with him.

I had been a bit nervous about this-- wanting things to go well for the first episcopal visit for which I was responsible as priest-in-charge. But preparations had gone pretty smoothly. The parish records are on their way to being in order (a bit of a challenge, as they have been maintained in some places better than in others in this region); the churches and grounds were clean and tidy; and the plans for coffee hour (at one church) and lunch (at the other) were in place.

Then it happened.

Sunday morning the bishop was vesting in our tiny sacristy before the first service. He had assembled his crozier (a beautiful thing, carved for him out of local hardwood by a parishioner in Missoula), and it was leaning against the door jamb while he finished putting on his vestments. I reached in to hand him a bulletin... and the sleeve of my alb must have brushed against it. It clattered to the ground and-- as I stared in amazed horror-- snapped in two. A long, jagged, angular crack, right through the middle along the grain.

Yep. I broke the crozier.

The bishop was very gracious, as I picked up the pieces and stammered stricken apologies. He turned down the Lay Eucharistic Minister's offer of duct tape (yes, she really did!), and mentioned a woodworker in Helena who would likely be able to repair it.

Then he turned to me and said, with a glint in his eye, "You realize, of course, that This Will Go On Your Permanent Record." And, after another pause, "So... where will you be seeking your next call? Alaska?"

Yes, sir, Right Reverend Father-in-God, sir.

Lord, have mercy.

Good News!

1) We have a website! "We," in this case, means my regional churches. You can now find Yellowstone Episcopal Ministries in cyberspace. It's still bare bones as yet, but we are up and running! Please feel free to stop by and say hello.

2) New Life: We have some new faces at St. Alban's! Most recently, a neighbor of the church has taken to walking over on Sundays. And one of the families who recently started coming back more regularly has asked for their two youngest children (aged 6 and almost 2) to be baptized. This week was very nearly the highest attendance we've had since I've been here; and it was a joyful group. Thanks be to God!

Friday roundup

I got back yesterday from my first Annual Big Sky Clergy Conference. This is a 3-day event, held each year at our diocesan campground up on Flathead Lake-- an absolutely gorgeous place, which makes the seven hours it takes to get there from here almost worth the effort. Even with the cold, damp weather squelching the spare-time hiking about I wanted to do, it was still lovely.

This was in part due to the company, of course. We (spouses are included in the invitation, so my husband came, too) rode up with with Rev. Ref and his Lovely Wife from their house, which made half the trip seem much shorter each way; and then I had some very pleasant conversations with several of my new co-conspirators colleagues in ministry. I'm still getting to know most of them, of course, and distances out here don't make that easy; but they are generally an amicable lot.

This year's speaker was theologian Bonnie Thurston, and she was marvelous. I quickly became a fan as I listened to her address biblical preaching, and preparation for same, with clarity, insight and humor. Then she clinched the deal later by expressing wholehearted and enthusiastic admiration for my favorite NT professor.

All in all, a great trip.

Today is normally my day off; but after three days away and with the bishop's visitation scheduled for my churches this weekend, I was busy both prepping and catching up:

• Chatted with a substitute musician scheduled for one of my churches in a couple of weeks, so she'll have plenty of time (she plays well, but she's new, and nervous) to practice the hymns we'll use;
• Arranged to have printed a boatload of fliers advertising a change in service times at another church;
• Programmed the digital hymnals at the two churches where the bishop will celebrate on Sunday (I hope they still work then-- I've never done it this far in advance);
• Fielded a number of Concerned Phone Calls, about one thing and another;
• Visited a shut-in parishioner, who eventually forgave me for missing our usual Wednesday chat; and
  
• Finished (as far as I can for now) updating the parish records, for the bishop's inspection.

And now... time to watch a silly movie with the aforementioned husband. And maybe a bath, later. Goodness knows I should sleep tonight.

Virginia Tech

I have been silent, not because there is nothing to say-- but rather, too much. It's overwhelming. It's in times like these I'm grateful to fall back upon the Book of Common Prayer:

Father of all, we pray to you for the dead in Blacksburg, and for all those whom we love but see no longer. Grant to them eternal rest. Let light perpetual shine upon them. May their souls, and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Most merciful God, whose wisdom is beyond our understanding: Deal graciously with families and friends in their grief. Surround them with you love, that they may not be overwhelmed by their loss, but have confidence in your goodness, and strength to meet the days to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Six Weird Things About Me

So, Saturday is a day for playing games, and I got tagged.

Here's the rules: Post six weird things about yourself; then tag six people to do the same.

• 1. If it's weird for Ref, then it's a weirdness we have in common: my wallet needs to be in order. Credit and ID cards each go in the same place, every time. The two sections of the coin purse are sorted into pennies and non-pennies. Paper money is right side up, face forward, and sorted by denomination from lowest in front to highest-- with receipts going at the very back.

• 2. Music lyrics - they stick in my head. All the time. I will very likely not know a song title or artist, even if the song was famous for years; but if I've only heard it a few times, I can sing the whole thing, letter perfect. I could be a surgeon, if so much brain storage space wasn't taken up with lyrics.
• 2b. If a tune does not have lyrics, I will make them up. And they may even have rhyme and meter.

• 3. I am not a fussy dresser, but I am fussy about the way my clothing is cared for and stored. Clothing all faces the same way in my closet, and is sorted on the rod. Blouses face to the right, with the top button buttoned, and are separated thus: clericals, casual shirts and dressy blouses. Within each category they are sorted by sleeve length (sleeveless, short sleeve, long sleeve), and by color, light to dark. Jeans come next, then slacks (light to dark), skirts, suits and dresses. If I get in a hurry and they get out of order, it makes me twitchy.

• 4. Parking. I am unnaturally good at it. No, I do not mean in the hormonal teenage sense. I mean:
• (a) I have what my husband calls "the parking aura." This means I can drive into a crowded parking lot, and-- with rare exceptions-- pull into a spot very near the door. Even at the Big Box Stores in December.
• (b) I can drive backwards almost as accurately as I can forwards. In fact, I prefer to back into spaces where possible, under the theory that I would like to be able to get out of trouble faster than I get into it.

• 5. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I developed this... well, whether one calls it a problem or skill, I'm not sure. Quite bluntly... I can belch like a frat boy. Loud. It disappoints my son that I do not care to show off this talent in front of his friends.

• 6. I do "mental math" very quickly. I'm no lightning calculator, but I can toss out accurate estimated totals, differences and percentages in about the time it takes to ask the question. And numbers will stay in my head almost as long as song lyrics. I can still tell you my high school boyfriend's phone number, even though it's been decades since I dialed it.

Okay... are you paying attention? Bruce, Cheesehead, Laurel, Ryan, Heather... and if I didn't name you and you want to put your name in the sixth spot, please do.

Oh, And Ref? We will need a date for a baseball game sometime-- and flowers aren't necessary. Chocolate also works.

"Lord, when did we see you hungry... ?"

I am not, by nature, overly reactive. I generally try to be a law-abiding citizen. Pay my taxes, license my housecat, and generally stay out of trouble.

However, if feeding the homeless was unlawful in my hometown, I might be considering, as the Slacktivist suggests, "celebrating the Lord's Supper in the park, preferably in groups of larger than 25." And budgeting for bail money.

There's got to be a better way.

Forgiveness and redemption

Now that we've celebrated the resurrection of Our Lord... how do we live into what that means?

There's a story making the rounds in the media, about a convicted sex offender wanting to attend church, and the struggles the congregation is having over the issue. The story can be found here (registration required), or here (free access).

There are conflicting impulses here, of course. On one hand, there is a godly desire to welcome all sinners (acknowledging that we are all sinners) into Christian community, and to proclaim God's forgiveness as available to everyone.

"You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5

Then Peter came and said to him, "Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?" Jesus said to him, "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven (or seventy times seven) times." Matthew 18

This comes up against the godly desire to care for children (acknowledging that we are all children), and to provide a safe place for nurture in the faith.

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. "If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea." Matthew 18

Then little children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them; but Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs." And he laid his hands on them and went on his way. Matthew 19

Perhaps, like so many of Our Lord's examples, the proper approach is not an either/or, but a both/and. Perhaps we could start with gratitude that the man in question is openly and honestly admitting and dealing with his past behavior.

Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." John 8

Perhaps we should admit the reality that others do not, and there are almost certainly harmful inclinations among the redeemed sinners already in our congregations.

For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. Romans 3

Perhaps we should operate under the rubric that all our dealings with one another must be open and aware as we try to compensate for human weakness in Safeguarding God's Children.

"See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves." Matthew 10

Easter Sunday

It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. But chiefly are we bound to praise you for the glorious resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; for he is the true Paschal Lamb, who was sacrificed for us, and has taken away the sin of the world. By his death he has destroyed death, and by his rising to life again he has won for us everlasting life!

-Easter Preface, Book of Common Prayer

The Great Vigil of Easter

This is the night, when you brought our fathers and mothers, the children of Israel, out of bondage in Egypt, and led them through the Red Sea on dry land.

This is the night, when all who believe in Christ are delivered from the gloom of sin, and are restored to grace and holiness of life.

This is the night, when Christ broke the bonds of death and hell, and rose victorious from the grave.

How wonderful and beyond our knowing, O God, is your mercy and loving-kindness to us, that to redeem a slave, you gave a Son.

How holy is this night, when wickedness is put to flight, and sin is washed away. It restores innocence to the fallen, and joy to those who mourn. It casts out pride and hatred, and brings peace and concord.

How blessed is this night, when earth and heaven are joined and humanity is reconciled to God!

Exsultet, Easter Vigil liturgy, Book of Common Prayer

Good Friday

Our heavenly Father sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved; that all who believe in him might be delivered from the power of sin and death, and become heirs with him of everlasting life.

We glory in your cross, O Lord,
and praise and glorify your holy resurrection;
for by virtue of your cross
joy has come to the whole world.

May God be merciful to us and bless us,
show us the light of his countenance, and come to us.

Let your ways be known upon earth,
your saving health among all nations.

Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.

We glory in your cross, O Lord,
and praise and glorify your holy resurrection;
for by virtue of your cross
joy has come to the whole world.

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,
because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

If we have died with him, we shall also live with him;
if we endure, we shall also reign with him.

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,
because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

Good Friday liturgy, Book of Common Prayer

Maundy Thursday

The Lord Jesus, after he had supped with his disciples and had washed their feet, said to them, "Do you know what I, your Lord and Master, have done to you? I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done."

Peace is my last gift to you, my own peace I now leave with you; peace which the world cannot give, I give to you.

I give you a new commandment: Love one another as I have loved you.

Peace is my last gift to you, my own peace I now leave with you; peace which the world cannot give, I give to you.

By this shall the world know that you are my disciples: That you have love for one another.

-Maundy Thursday liturgy, Book of Common Prayer

Pastoral Education

Things we never covered in seminary:

• Completing parochial reports for the national church, which ask for membership figures not noted in any record book, anywhere ("Oh! Is that what those blank pages are for?")

• Covering more than $1000 in monthly parish expenses with a checking account balance of $92.00.

• Calling on a shut-in while simultaneously fending off the advances of an overserved family member.

• Calming fears which arise over finding a lump in a breast-- by suddenly remembering the presence of a pacemaker.

Yep. That's the last two weeks. Never a dull moment. . .