The Sunset Juggler (formerly The Dragon's Mouth)

Brother Adam has posted again! It’s his Ash Wednesday reflection for his community.  At one point he says:

In a way, then, Lent calls us to be “normal” — to remember our nature, that we are part of the earth and not lords of it, to remember our contingency and how close we are to death when we are in life. Such remembering also gives us a strong sense of the value of simple things, of nourishing food, of an unexpected kindness, of the usefulness of practical skills that can prolong our lives if we find ourselves shut out of what we had before and wandering without knowing what is next. It might give us a little more respect for the poor of our own time, whose survival skills might be worth studying. The current urgency may call forth skills we did not know we need.

Anyway, if you want to see more, click here.

Something neat happened to me earlier this month.  I was accepted to the 2009 Summer Collegium at Virginia Theological Seminary  in Alexandria Virginia.  This is an initiative of the Lilly Endowment in support of small congregations.  It’s a national and cross denominational program.  My wife gets to come with me.  And our expenses are covered!  Anyway, if you want to see the press release about this, you can read it below: (more…)

Brain Baker (again) has an interesting link to the Presiding Bishop writing about the recent Primate’s meeting which you can find here.

Dean Brian Baker at Trinity Cathedral in Sacramento has linked to an excellent piece on using the daily offices by Derek Olsen.  You can see it here.

My friend Jim Richardson links to a report by the Commonwealth and Voices of Virginia Children that predicts how the recession will hit the poor in Virginia and invites everyone to watch Oprah today where the ministry of Loaves and Fishes in Sacramento will be featured.  You can see both here.

At least that’s what I said in my sermon this morning.  If you are interested, you can hear and see this sermon on my church’s home page by clicking here and then pushing the play button.  Most likely the sermon you hear will change each Sunday, so this is a limited time offeer!  If you look for it, however, an audio of this sermon will probably remain available for some time as an a sermon preached by John Mangels 2/22/09.

Roshi posted again on his blog about how he became a Christian (again).  He gives credit to Sara Miles and her book “take this bread.”  He says, “Sara showed me a faith, a Christ and a church that i had never seen before.  one that said you are OK, you are loved and you don’t have to be afraid.  the Table is big, and all (and she really means ALL ) are welcome.”  If you are interested in his post, click here.  If you are interested in Sara’s book, you can order it here.

Returning to Roshi Doshi’s blog, open windows & unlocked doors, he had some interesting reflection on prayer.  If you are interested, you can find it here.

Again, a selection from my friend Jim Richardson’s blog, Fiat Lux, where he quotes a poem from R M Rilke (who I like).  If you are interested, find it here.

My younger daughter called last night from Wichita. Yesterday, her husband, an aeronautical engineer, was laid off. They laid off all the contract workers, and thousands of the employees. This follows an earlier round of layoffs. The employees got two months pay. The contract workers got nothing. All of them were told to take their stuff as they left (and don’t come back). Glenn was a contract worker. Audrey is not employed. I have no idea what they are going to do.

(more…)