On the day after the election we gathered to pray and to listen to each other and to express a range of emotions. We lit candles for all who are feeling vulnerable, for all living with fear, and for all trying to understand what the outcome of our election might mean. With little notice a large number of people came, brought food, prayed, ate, listened, talked and were community for each other in our pain and bewilderment. Read more →
It’s 4:30 a.m.
I was up in time to get to Matins at 4:00 a.m. and will go to Lauds at 6:00 a.m. In between I find myself reflecting on what it’s like to be in residence with a monastic community (on retreat) at a time when there happens to be no other visitors. I’ve come especially for the feasts of All Saints’ and the Commemoration of All Faithful Departed (All Souls). But that’s not the only thing on the minds of the monks. Read more →
I know, it seems like a silly question (and I suppose it’s not a grammatically correct one, either!). These days the question is all about for whom you are voting, not for what you are voting. But as people of faith, we go into the voting booth with other questions besides the “who” on our mind. We go into the voting booth with the questions asked at our baptism on our mind, I hope. Read more →
October 1st and 2nd were a wonderful opportunity for Redeemer to do one of the things it does best– offer hospitality to the community. From the throngs of people who flooded through our doors to hear authors speak on a variety of topics from transgender issues to voting rights at the 3rd Annual Morristown Festival of Books to our 27th Annual Blessing of the Animals, where we blessed innumerable dogs, cats and turtles (but no slithering reptiles this year!), Redeemer welcomed the community with its customary grace and hospitality!
Did you ever go to a “mixer” in high school or college? You know– one of those dances where there were activities designed for people to get to know each other? What we did at Homecoming Weekend bore no resemblance to those, as near as I can tell! But it WAS a mixer! It mixed folks from every part of Redeemer and every part of the community together, and in a delightful, low-stress, way. From the first folks to come by who were in town to attend a Kenny Rogers show at the Mayo Performing Arts Center Friday night to the last folks to leave on Sunday–some very gracious CSK guests who spontaneously offered to help clean up–we truly mixed things up in Redeemer style, and had a great time doing it!
Yesterday I was busy in my office most of the morning and hadn’t had a moment to poke my head out of my door until I was headed out for a lunch appointment. As I did, Sandra stopped me. She knew she wouldn’t see me again before she left for the day, and she needed to tell me something important. My luncheon guest was waiting in the hall, so there wasn’t a lot of time, and there really wasn’t any way to prepare me for what she was about to say. “I need you to know something. Marla died.” Read more →
Today is our anniversary. Well, more accurately, it’s AN anniversary. It’s hard to be an LGBT person in a long term relationship and not have LOTS of anniversaries. This one is what we refer to as our “Important Piece of Paper” anniversary—the day we were legally married in Massachusetts five years ago. It’s not what we think of as our wedding anniversary, which we celebrate in March. But it is the recognition of something that existed prior to five years ago, so we will celebrate with friends tonight and enjoy the glow of what it represents. Read more →
Have you ever enjoyed fresh coconut? I mean really fresh coconut– as in, you cracked the coconut yourself and drank the milk and scooped or scraped out the sweet flesh? I was thinking of nuts that are hard to crack recently, because I’ve been feeling like one.
My mother died recently, just after I returned home from vacation. At 92 it was not entirely unexpected–though I might describe it as “un-planned,” if that makes sense. She had not been gravely ill. Death just sort of naturally happened. She had fought several rounds of pneumonia and a nasty intestinal infection in the last many months, and her body was fatigued. Every breath had become a struggle. I wasn’t entirely surprised when I got the call from my sister, but I was certainly sorry I hadn’t had one last chance to see her before she died.
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