Isn't that special?

We have, at long last, figured out what's up with the cat. An ear infection-- but not just any old ear infection. Nooooo, that would not have been enough for our kitty. The fancy, expensive, "send it out to the lab" testing showed not one, not two, but three sorts of bacteria, AND a yeast infection, battling for supremacy in there.

So now we have two sorts of pills to give her, plus an ointment to apply after cleaning out the ear, every day for the next month.

Needless to say, she's thrilled.

An existential alternative to Surreality

Had enough of the sinking level of political rhetoric?



(props to Real Live Preacher.)

Surreality

First there was a large white manilla envelope, from an Organization Which Shall Not Be Named. Upon said envelope was emblazoned, in big blue letters:

Same-Sex Unions and Child Sacrifice

The contents informed me, carefully and in graphic detail, of the perils of electing Sen. Obama, and my dereliction as a pastor if I did not warm my flock. They even included DVD's to show the congregation, as well as sermon notes to help me preach "with boldness and clarity, before it's too late." They promise in their next mailing to deal with "The Free Exercise of Islamic Violence."

I put it down and washed my hands. Twice.

Then I turned to the next item in today's mail: a postcard praising a local candidate, a veterinarian, for state rep in our district. Said rousing endorsement came from the governor's dog. Complete with the "Official Paw Print of Approval."

This election season really is in an alternate universe, isn't it? Lord, have mercy.

Good advice

At the closing Eucharist after yesterday's council meeting, we celebrated the Feast of St. James (transferred). The first reading was Acts 15:12-22-- a discussion among the apostles concerning requirements for Gentile converts. The nervous lector solemnly informed us that James told those present "...that we should not trouble those Gentiles who are turning to God, but we should write to them to abstain only from things polluted by idiots..."

Ups and downs

Friday

• Up: We took some time off this weekend to wander west of here, for what we called "Clergy Night at the Game." The rest of the world knew it as the Dillon/Anaconda football game.
• Down: There were supposed to be more of us there, but several had changes of plans at the last minute.
• Up: the folks who did come were great company! The Dillon priest (another Jane!) and her husband, Fr. John, Rev. Ref. (who really was the ref that night!) and his Lovely Wife, along with his sister and her family.
• Down: The football game was a rout: Dillon was up 46-0 at the half, and finished the game 46-8 even with their JV squad playing the whole second half. I can't help but feel badly for the other team when that happens.
  

Saturday

• Up: Spent the night at Chez Ref, and had a dandy pancake breakfast with the extended family before we hit the road home.
• Up: A two hour nap, uninterrupted, followed by a fun movie.
• Down: As much as I wanted to, I wasn't able to make it back east for the ordination today of a beloved friend.
• Up: Prayers of thanksgiving as she was made a priest of the church anyhow. Blessings, Beth!

Sunday

• Up: A wonderful service at St. Alban's this morning, with 22 people present-- including several visitors!
• Down: the new Advent candles we ordered don't fit the wreath, and need to be sent back and exchanged.
• Up: still plenty of time before Advent to do that.
• Down: Low attendance at St. Paul's, and a broken water heater (in addition to the rotted out front door that needs to be replaced). We do NOT need those bills just now.
• Up: A parishioner who offered to take us out hunting when deer season starts. I don't know if we'll actually go; but it was a kindly offer from some wonderful people, and any additions to our freezer would help to offset the lack of a raise again this year...

Overall, more ups than downs. This evening that will have to be enough-- and as my grandmother would say, "enough is as good as a feast."

We've got spirit, yes we do...

There are some things in this world I will never understand.

Like, even if Columbine had never happened... what sort of misguided idiocy approves mimicking a gangland execution at a pep rally as conducive to school spirit?

Apparently the principal of Nacogdoches (TX) High School, who termed it "simple, innocent satire" and "a little country, cowboy-type skit." He was in fact so supportive that he edited student criticism of the event in the school paper to remove any disapproval of his decision.

Thankfully, not everyone in the administration agreed.

This is why I don't watch FOX

It seems a primary source (if not the primary source) for the ongoing accusations about Sen. Barak Obama being a terrorist-linked Muslim planning to overthrow the government is a man named Andy Martin. Fox News used him as an authority last week in their reporting about Obama's purported terrorist ties. And a major news outlet would be sure to use nothing but reliable sources, yes?

Apparently that rule does not apply to Fox News. And no, that is not "liberal" bashing of "conservative" reporting.

The Chicago Tribune is also an historically "conservative" media outlet, one which has never in its long history endorsed anything but Republicans for president. From their online Washington Bureau, aka "The Swamp," comes this report about Mr. Martin:

In 1973, the Illinois Supreme Court refused to allow Martin admission to the bar. The court's decision noted that Martin, a University of Illinois law school graduate who was previously known by the name Anthony R. Martin-Trigona, had a Selective Service record that showed he had a "moderately-severe character defect manifested by well documented ideation with a paranoid flavor and a grandiose character."

Still, the court noted that "issues raised as to [Martin's] mental stability" did not need to be considered in light of other matters it cited in deciding that Martin lacked the qualities of "responsibility, candor, fairness, self-restraint, objectivity and respect for the judicial system" required for the administration of justice.

Among issues the high court cited in denying his law license were Martin's criticism of members of a bar review panel as "emotionally ill" and "scum," his filing of a petition asking that a parking violation be lifted because it was "entered by an insane judge" and his description of an attorney as "shaking and tottering and drooling like an idiot," according to court records.

And further...

Martin also has expressed anti-Semitic attitudes in the past. When he ran for Congress in Connecticut in 1986, the name of his congressional campaign committee included the phrase "to exterminate Jew power in America," Federal Election Commission records show.

In a 1983 personal bankruptcy case, he referred to a federal bankruptcy judge as a "crooked, slimy Jew, who has a history of lying and thieving common to members of his race."

In a related court filing in the case, he also expressed sympathy to the perpetrators of the Holocaust.

"I am able to understand how the Holocaust took place, and with every passing day feel less and less sorry that it did, when Jew survivors are operating as a wolf pack to steal my property," Martin wrote in an April 21, 1983, personal bankruptcy proceeding.

There's more... read it for yourself. It's important to consider the kind of "reliable sources" to which one turns for "news."

What 14 looks like

He hates to pose for pictures anymore, so I took this one while he was playing with one of his gifts-- a 5x5 Rubik's Cube. He's mastered the smaller versions, so this is a new challenge.

Happy birthday, Kyle!

Snow Day II

The snow is still falling. I woke up this morning and came out to the kitchen to see this:


Even after scraping off the driveway before I went to bed last night, there was also another foot on the pavement to be shoveled. That brings the total accumulation up well over two feet.

My assistant lives in Red Lodge; he reports waist-high snow at his house.

After chatting with my senior wardens (heads of parish councils, for the non-Episcopalians out there), I agreed to cancel services today in Absarokee and Joliet. Part of me feels guilty, like I'm slacking. I mean, they wouldn't be fun commutes, but I could probably get to those towns safely... maybe. But really, it would not be wise; as I said yesterday, road clearing is kind of an optional thing here. In addition, I have parishioners in both places who would feel obligated to try to get out if I "came all that way," and who do not belong on the roads in these conditions. Better that we all stay home this Sunday-- and, as my Joliet SW said, "We'll just pray twice as hard next week."

I did walk over to lead worship at the church in Laurel; but no one else stuck their nose outdoors (apparently my congregants are smarter than I am!). I read Morning Prayer, put away the vestments and vessels, and came home.


Perhaps we'll make a snowman later, when the Birthday Boy wakes up.


Updated: at 5:00 PM, almost 72 hours after it started, the snow has finally stopped. And the sun is out-- glorious!

Snow Day!

This morning was supposed to be our regional board meeting-- a combined confab held quarterly with the vestries of all 4 churches. We have a full agenda, and lots of stuff to cover.

But the weather decided otherwise. The snow started to fall early yesterday morning and began accumulating in earnest last night. I woke this morning to 6" of heavy, wet, soggy snow in our driveway. The report from my wardens in other towns is that's a minimum-- they are measuring their snowfall in feet. And it's still falling.

The roads are NOT safe-- even going slowly with 4-wheel-drive, I slipped and slid more than once. The approach to snow removal in this part of the world is perhaps most accurately summed up by a statement I heard from our governor, the first year we lived here: "I don't worry about it much. I figure the guy who put it there will clean it up."

And so I canceled the meeting (we'll reschedule later), turned around and came home. I shoveled off the driveway and sidewalks (did I mention this stuff is heavy?) and came in the house. I'm now parked next to the fireplace, cat on my lap and hot chocolate in my mug, watching the snow continue to fall.

Life is good in Montana.

Integrity

Note: political post ahead.

I was, thanks be to God, raised to be an independent voter-- most especially by my mother. She was a brilliant, feisty woman who lived as a registered Republican in the monochromatic sea of Democrats that was Lake County, Indiana (there were a lot of years when she did not vote in a primary because there was no contest-- and sometimes no candidate!). Her way of dealing with my questions about politics as I got old enough to care was to ask more questions of her own-- and to push me to find out for myself. She'd say things like, "Of course there's corruption. But don't let that stop you. If you don't vote, you can't make a difference." or "Take a good look first for integrity, and then for a stand on ALL the issues that concern you. You probably won't find someone you agree with on every issue, but you'll come closer if you pay attention." or "If you can't wholeheartedly vote FOR somebody, there's sure to be someone to vote AGAINST."

Which probably explains two things about me: First, I can count on one hand the number of elections in nearly 30 years where I've missed voting. And secondly, my record is all over the map, party-wise: Since the 1980 presidential election (where I favored Independent John Anderson), I've voted for Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Libertarians, and even the occasional "None of the Above" candidate.

Back in 2000, I was not a huge fan of President Clinton-- in spite of what I will now say were some solid political achievements, Mom's "integrity first" rule echoed in my head. That colored the way I looked at my choices. After looking over the host of possibilities in all the primaries, I elected to pick up a Republican ballot and cast a vote for John McCain. His sort of independent grit impressed me. Obviously he didn't win the nomination; but I retained a positive view of him, overall.

I wish I could say that was still true. But I've not been impressed in the last several months. And now, watching as he does nothing while his running mate and his supporters deliberately and falsely fuel fires of racist, ethnocentric hatred toward his opponent...

Senator McCain, please stop. You're better than that. At least, you used to be.

Click to Give

This weekend is our quarterly regional board meeting, but neither the board's secretary nor the president (her husband) will be there. Instead, they will be spending the weekend in Texas. There "M" will undergo tests to verify she's still clear of the breast cancer that sent her there for treatment two years ago. They make the trip every three months.

My most recent mammogram (aka "Visit with the Vise Squad") was clear-- and, I am grateful to say, covered by our insurance. Both of us are fortunate women in that we can get the care and/or treatment we need without straining our budgets. Not everyone is so blessed.

You can help with that very easily, if you will. Just take the time to visit The Breast Cancer Site, and click the big pink button. Please-- as a favor to me, in gratitude for M's life, and for the sake of all the women who don't have the advantages we do.

Thanks.

What we worship

I just read through the propers appointed for this coming Sunday.

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." Aaron said to them, "Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!" When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, "Tomorrow shall be a festival to the LORD." They rose early the next day, and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.

Anyone else hear echoes of a bailout plan...?

Diocesan Convention

That was my weekend. Three days of meeting, chatting, praying, worshiping with Episcopalians from all over the state. The bullet points:

• Saturday morning was taken up with service projects. Some 200 Episcopalians were swarming all over Billings: filling food pantry sacks, serving lunches at the rescue mission, or (in my case) painting bathrooms at a domestic violence shelter... being Jesus' hands and feet in the world.

• The only budget controversy involved the observation that our small diocesan staff has not had a raise in 3 years. I'm glad someone noticed; but geez... it took two hours to decide how best to provide at least a cost of living increase. (Lord, give me patience with those who would, given the opportunity, wallow in Process and Detail until the second coming). I am grateful they managed to figure something out. Those good people work very hard, and I would not like the thought of trying to do my job without them.

• We had five resolutions to be considered, ranging from pulpit exchanges to the ministry of youth in the church, to proposing changes to Eucharistic prayers for presentation at General Convention next summer. It was a docket that could have taken half a day if allowed to do so. I was chair of the Resolutions Committee: it was my job to see that it did not. People needed the opportunity to speak, of course: but I was able to outline a format which also respected the time constraints. Unlike the budget discussion, we stayed on schedule.

• At our closing Eucharist, a fine young man was ordained as a transitional deacon. I could wish for the opportunity to get to know him better, but he's off to NYC, serving with the Seaman's Church Institute. Godspeed, Jed!

And now... I only have one extrovert gene, and after being ON for three days it is exhausted. Hot tea, and early bedtime here.