Silent Servants...
... of the Used, Abused, and Utterly Screwed Up.
A Secular Franciscan looks at the world...
with a more jaundiced eye than ever...
and lots of ellipses for you to fill in the missing text...
(with thanks to Thomas S. Klise for the title)
Tuesday, April 07, 2020
Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Saturday, December 07, 2019
Friday, October 18, 2019
I'm so sad
I've had to make the appointment with our veterinarian, the one I was dreading, making the appointment the last one my dear FreeBSD will make with me to the vet's. After almost 20 years her physical and mental issues mean that things are no longer comfortable for her. These are such hard decisions, but we're responsible for the care of our adopted furry family, and so we march forward. I'll miss her and her nose licks so much. I'm very sad tonight.
Sunday, May 26, 2019
Friday, April 25, 2014
The incredible entitlement of some people
never ceases to amaze me:
Christie Blatchford: Family of teen fatally struck by SUV sued by motorist for her ‘pain and suffering’
Yep. That is all.
Christie Blatchford: Family of teen fatally struck by SUV sued by motorist for her ‘pain and suffering’
Yep. That is all.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
R.I.P. - Alice Herz-Sommer
Alice Herz-Sommer, believed to be world's oldest Holocaust survivor, dies at 110
Go straight to G-D, Mrs. Herz-Sommer, and truly enjoy eternal peace and comfort...
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
R.I.P. - Harold Ramis
Harold Ramis, Chicago actor, writer and director, dead at 69
"Best-known as an actor for 'Ghostbusters', 'Stripes', writer/director for 'Caddyshack', 'Groundhog Day'"
I really enjoyed his work, and he made a lot of people laugh. Godspeed, Mr. Ramis. Rest In Peace.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
I had to post this article
in case it disappears from the 'net. My apologies to the author. Some things said need to be preserved...
COMMENTARY: Church shouldn’t be this hard
(RNS) After 36 years of serving churches as a pastor and consultant, I came to a startling conclusion the other day.
Not startling to you, perhaps. I might be the last person to get the memo. But the conclusion drew me up short.
My conclusion: Religion shouldn’t be this hard.
An assembly that exists to help people shouldn’t be so willing to hurt people — by declaring them worthless, unacceptable, undesirable or strangers at the gate.
An assembly that should relax into the serenity of God’s unconditional love shouldn’t be so filled with hatred and fear.
An assembly that should do what Jesus did shouldn’t be so inwardly focused, so determined to be right, so eager for comfort, so fearful of failing.
An assembly that follows an itinerant rabbi shouldn’t be chasing permanence, stability and property.
An assembly whose call is to oneness and to serving the least shouldn’t be perpetuating hierarchies of power and systems of preference.
Faith should be difficult, yes, because it inevitably entails self-sacrifice and renewal. Life, too, is difficult. Dealing with Mammon is difficult. Speaking truth to power is difficult. Confronting our own weakness and capacity for sin is difficult.
But the institution whose sole justifiable purpose is to help us deal with those difficulties shouldn’t be making matters worse.
When we bring our burdens to church, we shouldn’t find ourselves feeling intimidated by the in crowds, caught up in conflicts about who is running things, budget anxieties, jousting over opinion or doctrine, or relentless demonizing of whoever is trying to lead.
Yes, I understand that church is a human institution and therefore it will participate in humanity’s brokenness. But church should be seeking to redeem that humanity, to heal that brokenness, to show better ways to live. Instead, we celebrate our own cruelty and bigotry. We fight against the very transformation that God seeks.
Maybe I’m the last one to see this dilemma. The millions who are fleeing institutional Christianity in America aren’t escaping bad doctrine, shoddy performance values or inconvenient calls to mission. They are escaping the institution itself.
It doesn’t have to be this way. God certainly doesn’t want it this way.
I think, for example, of the performance anxiety that infects most churches. We needn’t worry so much about pleasing constituents on Sunday. Worship isn’t a Broadway show; it’s a glimpse of God, not a celebration of style, excellence and self.
I think of our leadership conflicts. Pastors aren’t CEOs hired to maximize shareholder returns. They aren’t impresarios rewarded for putting on great shows. Pastors are flawed creatures called to help other flawed creatures bring their neediness to God.
Church should be a safe place — safe to be oneself, safe to make one’s confession, safe to love whoever one feels called to love, safe to imagine more, safe to fail. Instead, church often is a dangerous place, where people feel guarded, self-protective, hemmed in by tradition and expectation, required to obey rules.
Church should be different from society. Instead, it plays by the same rules: get mine, be first, be right, punish the weak, exclude the different, reward the wealthy.
Our society needs healthy faith communities. But neither society nor God has much need for religious institutions grounded in right-opinion, self-serving and systemic danger.
(Tom Ehrich is a writer, church consultant and Episcopal priest based in New York. He is the author of “Just Wondering, Jesus” and founder of the Church Wellness Project. His website is www.morningwalkmedia.com. Follow Tom on Twitter @tomehrich.)
COMMENTARY: Church shouldn’t be this hard
(RNS) After 36 years of serving churches as a pastor and consultant, I came to a startling conclusion the other day.
Not startling to you, perhaps. I might be the last person to get the memo. But the conclusion drew me up short.
My conclusion: Religion shouldn’t be this hard.
An assembly that exists to help people shouldn’t be so willing to hurt people — by declaring them worthless, unacceptable, undesirable or strangers at the gate.
An assembly that should relax into the serenity of God’s unconditional love shouldn’t be so filled with hatred and fear.
An assembly that should do what Jesus did shouldn’t be so inwardly focused, so determined to be right, so eager for comfort, so fearful of failing.
An assembly that follows an itinerant rabbi shouldn’t be chasing permanence, stability and property.
An assembly whose call is to oneness and to serving the least shouldn’t be perpetuating hierarchies of power and systems of preference.
Faith should be difficult, yes, because it inevitably entails self-sacrifice and renewal. Life, too, is difficult. Dealing with Mammon is difficult. Speaking truth to power is difficult. Confronting our own weakness and capacity for sin is difficult.
But the institution whose sole justifiable purpose is to help us deal with those difficulties shouldn’t be making matters worse.
When we bring our burdens to church, we shouldn’t find ourselves feeling intimidated by the in crowds, caught up in conflicts about who is running things, budget anxieties, jousting over opinion or doctrine, or relentless demonizing of whoever is trying to lead.
Yes, I understand that church is a human institution and therefore it will participate in humanity’s brokenness. But church should be seeking to redeem that humanity, to heal that brokenness, to show better ways to live. Instead, we celebrate our own cruelty and bigotry. We fight against the very transformation that God seeks.
Maybe I’m the last one to see this dilemma. The millions who are fleeing institutional Christianity in America aren’t escaping bad doctrine, shoddy performance values or inconvenient calls to mission. They are escaping the institution itself.
It doesn’t have to be this way. God certainly doesn’t want it this way.
I think, for example, of the performance anxiety that infects most churches. We needn’t worry so much about pleasing constituents on Sunday. Worship isn’t a Broadway show; it’s a glimpse of God, not a celebration of style, excellence and self.
I think of our leadership conflicts. Pastors aren’t CEOs hired to maximize shareholder returns. They aren’t impresarios rewarded for putting on great shows. Pastors are flawed creatures called to help other flawed creatures bring their neediness to God.
Church should be a safe place — safe to be oneself, safe to make one’s confession, safe to love whoever one feels called to love, safe to imagine more, safe to fail. Instead, church often is a dangerous place, where people feel guarded, self-protective, hemmed in by tradition and expectation, required to obey rules.
Church should be different from society. Instead, it plays by the same rules: get mine, be first, be right, punish the weak, exclude the different, reward the wealthy.
Our society needs healthy faith communities. But neither society nor God has much need for religious institutions grounded in right-opinion, self-serving and systemic danger.
(Tom Ehrich is a writer, church consultant and Episcopal priest based in New York. He is the author of “Just Wondering, Jesus” and founder of the Church Wellness Project. His website is www.morningwalkmedia.com. Follow Tom on Twitter @tomehrich.)
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
The world
is a much darker and sadder place today.
Pete Seeger, folk singer and activist, dead at 94
I had a dream of meeting him one day, which I never realized. He was always an amazing man to me, and I hope to meet him in Heaven one day.
So very sad, but he lived his life in hope of a better world and worked all his days toward that goal. Goodnight, Mr. Seeger, and go swiftly to God...
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