Someone recently asked me if I was going to continue “Clergy Clatter” after I retired from Epiphany. Sadly, my answer was “No.” I say sadly because it has been sort of a journal of my life with you for 30 plus years. You have been very much a part of it with me. Anyone around … [Read more…]
Have you ever planned things carefully, and then had them just fall apart? That’s kind of what’s been going on with my plans to retire from Epiphany. It’s actually become sort of amusing – to me. As you know, I first spoke with the bishop about it in January. She said she wanted to meet … [Read more…]
“You have to get us back to where we were before the pandemic.” As many of you know, I live on the edge of a salt marsh that is part of the Elizabeth River flood plain. It’s not the prettiest salt marsh in the world, but it’s special to me. If I stand on my … [Read more…]
“You have to get us back to where we were before the pandemic.” Almost every time we gather, whether for Sunday worship, vestry, a chat in my office – I am told that the pandemic is over. Now I need to get things right again. I need to get attendance back to where it was, … [Read more…]
“You know Lent comes early this year” I heard someone say as the clergy were vesting for Fr. Green’s Requiem Mass. WHAT? “How early is early?” I wondered. As soon as I could get to a calendar I checked it out. Yee Gads! Three weeks! Maybe Epiphany would like to skip Lent this year. One … [Read more…]
At a Christmas gathering, Marcia Cronin and I got into a discussion over popular Christmas carols. She told me the following story about “Joy to the World.” It has to be shared, so in Marcia’s words, here it is. Enjoy! “Joy to the World” always brings a smile to my face, both for the joy … [Read more…]
I’m writing this on the evening of All Saints’ Day. We celebrated Halloween last night. It was a beautiful evening with perfect weather, and as I waited for trick-or-treaters, it brought back a humorous memory that I had long forgotten. I hope you’ll find it amusing. Back in the early 1970s, before the interstates were … [Read more…]
It’s not a good omen when a priest is heading into church to hold a service, and he hears a horrendous crash, braking glass, and a lot of voices yelling. Somehow, the priest knows that this is going to be a special day in his life and ministry. What in the world is going on? … [Read more…]
If you follow Facebook, you may have seen the item on Costco selling coffins and burial urns in their stores. It seems that they started selling them in Australia in 2015, and are now adding them to stateside stores. Costco would not be expanding a product line if it wasn’t selling. The display is well … [Read more…]
With advancing age, does not necessarily come advancing wisdom. I can attest to that! Having had a very mild early summer, and living in a big house that gets great natural ventilation and has limited A/C, I decided to go the summer without A/C. Just throw open all the windows, turn on the ceiling fans … [Read more…]