You don’t always get … what you expect.
That’s true so often (in my experience) in our relationship with God.
But this morning I’m really only thinking about the service I attended at Trinity Cathedral (in Sacramento). (more…)
Personal
Archived Posts from this Category
June 16, 2013
You don’t always get … what you expect
Posted by johnmangels under Diocese of Northern California, Personal | Tags: Brian Baker, by John Mangels, Trinity Cathedral, Worship |Leave a Comment
May 23, 2013
It is no Sin to Have Wealth …
Posted by johnmangels under Monasticism, Personal | Tags: by John Mangels, Celtic Daily Prayer, spiritual search, stewardship, Wealth |Leave a Comment
I’m attracted to money and the things that money can bring into my life. I think most of us are. Most of my life I was paid for my work. It may not have been my main motivation. I had another career started, once upon a time, that promised to be more lucrative. Money has not been my primary motivator in discerning a call. But I don’t think I would have done the work that I did most of my life if I had not been paid a living wage.
There was a time when my furniture consisted of a fold up mattress, a lamp for reading and some crates to hold books, and my clothing was limited and pretty much all hand me down or thrift shop (except athletic shoes) and I was perfectly happy. Today I want (possibly even need) a comfortable bed to sleep in and a comfortable chair to read in, and my stuff (which once fit into a VW bug) easily fills a home. That is a problem in retirement: how do I move my old office into my home?
I found myself thinking about this after reading (in Celtic Daily Prayer): “It is no sin to have wealth, but it is sinful to be attracted to wealth. (more…)
March 30, 2013
Maybe Only of Interest to People Who Lead Worship?
Posted by johnmangels under Personal | Tags: by John Mangels, Worship |Leave a Comment
This has been my first Holy Week since I retired. And it’s absolutely bizarre. After some thirty years of planning and leading worship (and all the extra planning and sermons for the special services during Holy Week) I got to choose what services I participated in and where I worshiped. I only led one (public) service all week on Palm Sunday. I did the major offices of Matins and Vespers (mostly) at home. I attended a Maundy Thursday service at an Episcopal Church. I attended an Easter Vigil at a Lutheran Church. I’ll probably say Matins in the morning at home. It’s actually nice just to be there to worship. Although, after some thirty years in the field, it’s pretty much automatic that you are critiquing every service you attend.
Maybe they shouldn’t let clergy attend services led by others!
But I find myself thinking that every three to five years all clergy should be required to attend someone else’s Holy Week and Christmas services. Not everything was done the way I would have done it. And that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing! (more…)
May 27, 2012
Quick Update on Gastric Bypass
Posted by johnmangels under Gastric Bypass, Personal | Tags: by John Mangels |[2] Comments
It’s been a while since I’ve commented on where things are today — I think since before February (when I passed two years since the surgery). Not a lot has changed. My weight (before morning shower) still hovers within about five pounds of 155 (after a high of 300 and about 265 the day of the surgery). That’s where it’s been for about a year and a half. I’m starting to believe this is stable (I’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop). My stomach still feels like a separate entity. (more…)
May 8, 2012
Relationship and the Good Life
Posted by johnmangels under Looking for God, Personal | Tags: by John Mangels, Incarnation, Personal, Seeing God, spiritual search |Leave a Comment
Some of you will still remember the song, “American Woman,” that still gets some play on classic rock stations. I like the song fine, though it’s not one of my favorites. (I prefer the version with the acoustic guitar lead in that then breaks into a harder, electric rock.) It’s been running through my head for the last several days. Knowing that we all read into what songs and poems and stories mean from how they connect in our own minds to our own lives, I’ve always heard this as a song about not settling for the standard work hard (at any job that pays well), care for your family and retire well thing that seems to run in American culture. What’s important is being successful and comfortable. Very possibly, that’s just me.
I think, if you’d asked me during my college days what the most important thing in my life was, I might have answered ending the (Vietnam) war. Or I might have answered finding the meaning of life (I was a philosophy major) or figuring out God (I did become an Episcopal priest). Or I might have answered my writing. It would have depended when and in what context you asked me.
Did I want a real relationship with a woman? Sure. You bet! But it might well not have been on my list of most important things. And, in the context of making some woman happy by supporting her living the American dream, it was certainly not on my list of vital things to do with my life. (more…)
March 31, 2012
Passing Out “River Water”
Posted by johnmangels under Jesus, Personal, St. George's | Tags: by John Mangels, Seeing God, St. George's |[2] Comments
I’m not dying, I’m retiring (and looking for new work) because it’s time to move on. But I was struck by a story (in Chittister’s The Rule of Benedict):
An ancient people tells us that when the moment of a great teacher’s death was near, the disciples said, “What is it we will see when you are gone?” And the master said, “All I did was sit on the river bank handing out river water. After I am gone I trust you will notice the water.”
How wonderful!
As a priest, it’s really tempting sometimes to get caught up in one’s own importance. We often think we are indispensable. But we are not.
To use the image in the story, what matters is the water — using Christian terminology, “the water of life,” which is Jesus.
If I have been faithful, I’ve handed out this water flowing freely past me to those who pass by thirsty — which is all of us.
But the water is there, and free, whether I am there or not.
I hope my congregation notices the water when I am gone.
December 23, 2011
Opening Lines
Posted by johnmangels under Personal | Tags: by John Mangels, Writers Group |Leave a Comment
We were asked, at the clergy writing group, to give the opening sentence of a seasonal sermon we would probably never give in our congregations. Here are my two entries:
It might surprise you to learn that our ideal person of faith is an expectant, unwed twelve year old …
and
Having the magi recognize Jesus’ birth is like having palm reading astrologers give him their seal of approval …
December 20, 2011
Christmas Greeting
Posted by johnmangels under Christmas, Personal, St. George's | Tags: by John Mangels, Christmas, Seeing God, St. George's |Leave a Comment
This will be my Christmas Greeting (to come out in early January) for my congregation this year:
The word “incarnation” has been on my mind this past week.
It means something like “in the flesh” or “given flesh” – as in Jesus was born in the flesh on Christmas Day.
But I’ve found myself thinking that we, as Christ’s mystical Body, give flesh to Christ in our own community today.
Our hands are not just our hands: they are God’s hands.
Our eyes are not just our eyes: they are God’s eyes.
We act for God today.
We represent God today.
What we do puts flesh on God for the people around us today – just as Jesus puts flesh on God for us as Christians.
And this idea carries over from the season of Christmas (that runs through January 5th – Twelfth Night) into the Epiphany (January 6) and the season following, which is about what Jesus did in the world.
Jesus wasn’t just born. Jesus acted. Both are necessary parts of God’s incarnation in this world.
In our baptisms, we are reborn (by the power of the Spirit) in Christ. And we are called to act, to incarnate Jesus’ presence, in his Name.
Merry Christmas to you and yours. May we live out the spirit of Christmas in the year ahead.
December 15, 2011
Hitchhiking
Posted by johnmangels under Personal | Tags: Birding, by John Mangels, Personal |Leave a Comment
Reading Kaufman’s Kingbird Highway. He’s talking about hitching from Arizona to Pennsylvania, and it brings back old memories.
I did a lot of driving, birding, in college, with Frosh.
But I did a lot of hitching (and some picking up) in college too.
I remember two pickups in particular. (more…)
The Sunset Juggler (formerly The Dragon's Mouth) 