Moving Diagonally

Usual weekday early AM routine: email culling, internet surfing, task planning, breakfast, Morning Prayer. Relatively short (as these things go) conversation with Comcast over a lingering move-in issue. Longer tech support conversation with Quicken. Developed my working notes for Session 4 of the clergy conference. Takeout lunch from the not-too-bad Chinese place around the corner. Stepped out to pick up some dry cleaning. Got back and found the cable guy there early. Assisted him (with stuff like basement access and a step stool) while he took care of some dangling loose ends from the original not-too-great installation. Performed reconstructive surgery on a sermon text from 1997 on Proper 28 (Nov. 18 at All Saints, Morton), making it time-sensitive to 2018. Made a run across the street to Walgreens for some trick-or-treat candy. Turned out not be be necessary, as we had no takers. Took a long and brisk walk on a fine fall day. Evening Prayer. Fixed dinner ("comfort fo...

The day got started in an orderly manner, and then descended into technology-driven chaos. In the morning, I had a significant phone conversation with a priest of the diocese, followed up on some issues by email, outlined another session of the clergy conference, and worked on my sermon for Proper 27 (November 11 at St Barnabas', Havana). So for, so good. Grabbed some lunch to bring home from the taqueria around the corner, and enjoyed some time with our son and granddaughter. Then I head by train down to the Apple store. My 2012 Macbook has been showing various signs of aging lately, and 6+ years seems a respectable lifetime for a computer, and since my laptop is pretty much the means for me to both *do* and *be* in my daily work, I discerned that the time had come. Actually going out and making the purchase and getting home with it consumed well less than two hours. But the rest of the afternoon and evening was devoted to setup. There haven't been any huge issues, but it just...

Up and out of the Bloomington Doubletree while it was still dark and rainy in order be at St Matthew's ahead of their regular 0730 liturgy. Presided, preached ... and baptized, which doesn't normally happen at the early service, in places that *have* an early service. What a joy. Then Brenda and I stepped out for some breakfast. Then, ten minutes before the 1000 Mass, we discovered we were doing yet another baptism--the candidate is seven years old, very much wanted to be baptized, had the support of her grandparents, with only the parents, not practicing Christians, standing in the way. Today, they relented, and we welcomed Tinley into the household of God. No matter how many times I do it, that moment of looking into someone's eyes and telling them that they are sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism and marked as Christ's own forever never gets old. It was a happy morning. Lunch at Red Lobster with the rector, the deacon, and a couple of parishioners, then back up I-55...

St Matthew's, Bloomington --Hebrews 5:12-6:1, 9-12; Mark 10:46-52 I'm going to begin my sermon with a question—actually, several questions, rhetorical questions, questions that I don't expect you to answer to me, but to think about seriously. What is your greatest temptation to sin? If it met you with full force this afternoon, what would be your resources to resist it? If someone asked you to explain why the doctrine of the Trinity is so important, could you?  If a bible-believing neighbor pointed out to you where Jesus said, "Call no man 'father’” and called you to account for the way male priests are customarily addressed in the church, what would be your response? What do you think of the statement that religion is just a matter of personal taste and upbringing, because they all eventually lead to the same God?  Is regular prayer one of the central habits of your life?  If you were to be diagnosed with terminal cancer tomorrow, would your faith in...

Morning Prayer in my living room chair. Edited, refined, printed, and posted my homily for tomorrow at St Matthew’s, Bloomington. Attended to personal chores and errands until mid-afternoon, when I made preparations for the second session of next month’s clergy retreat. Packed and hit the road southbound with Brenda at 6:00pm, stopping someplace south of I-80 for some yummy burrito bowls, arriving at the Bloomington Doubletree at 9:15.

Task planning and Morning Prayer in my living room chair. Put some effort into solving a tech glitch that has annoyed me for several days--the email client I use wasn't downloading messages sent to my diocesan account (I've still been getting them, but by logging in directly to Outlook on Office 365). Of course, as soon as I gave up and generated a service ticket, everything started behaving as it's supposed to. That's the way it goes. Chased down some information pertaining to an ongoing pastoral/administrative concern. Got this accomplished by email and turning my laptop sideways to read a PDF. Got down to detailed planning of the Monday evening session of the upcoming clergy conference. Interestingly, this caused me to spend quality time with the 1928 and 1662 Prayer Books, as well as the Anglican Missal. Lunch from leftovers. Finished the aforementioned clergy conference task, then plowed right ahead into plotting the liturgy details for said conference. Juggl...

Up, packed, fed, and out of the Doubletree in the Riverplace section of Jacksonville around 0845. Rode the interesting elevated transit system (well-built, and free, but not very extensive) across the river to downtown, then waked about five blocks to St John's Cathedral for the customary Requiem Mass for departed friends and benefactors of the Living Church Foundation at 0930. The members of the foundation then convened across the street in the offices of the Diocese of Florida for the annual meeting of the corporation. We transacted necessary business until breaking for lunch at 12:30. The afternoon session was devoted to a discussion of what transpired at General Convention. I stepped at 3:10 to call a Lyft and head to the airport. Everything went according to schedule and I arrived home at about 7:15.