Thursday, February 11, 2010

Snow Day


I can always remember when school was canceled for a snow day. It was rare, but boy was it fun!! The neighborhood was a buzz that day. Phones would start ringing as soon as people woke up. Mom's would plan the meals for the day.....I have this that could go with your that. The kids would be figuring out where to meet to sled. Dad built a huge fire for everyone to warm up by. In and out we went. In to warm up with hot chocolate and to dry off. Out we went to walk to K-Mart to buy someone gloves or to Long John Silvers to buy slaw for the hot dogs. In we went to warm up by the fire and eat. Out we went for a snow ball fight. All in all...it was a day of good old fashion fun with friends and family! We would play until we wore ourselves out.

That was much of what yesterday was. School was canceled. It was Addison and Parker's first "real" snow day. We began it with chocolate chip pancakes with friends. Next, it was time to bundle up and meet everyone on the Close to play. Snowmen were built. Children were being pulled on sleds. Snow balls were flying. Snow angles were there if you looked closely. I even saw snow being eaten!!! Off to the refectory for lunch and getting warm time. Then, back to the snow. This time, a ten foot snowman was built! While some of the "older" kids worked on the super large snowman, Addison, Parker, Casey and Rem worked on the snow fort. If you were a student going to class, you instantly wore a target that attracted snowballs....whether you were up for it or not!!! Back in we went to only get dressed again to play in the snow. Finally, exhausted, we had dinner and called it a day. After a day of fun with friends and 10" of snow, we fell into bed for a good nights sleep. Oh, what a day it was!!!!


Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Faith is a Funny Thing

Faith is a funny thing. There are times in our lives that we feel that we are fully aware of our faith and then times when we wish we had a lot more of it. Over my last semester I went through this struggle for faith over and over again.

Starting over at this point in my life has been very humbling. I have begun a fresh start and that means starting again from the bottom. This has been something I have wrestled with over and over again. I am quite sure that this struggle will remain constant throughout my seminary experience. However, it is faith that has gotten me this far and I know it is only through faith that I will be able to rebuild my new life as a priest. God has a plan for us all and faith is the anchor which keeps us grounded.

The semester has just begun and already I am overwhelmed with the amount of work that is being thrust upon us. It is like seeing a huge storm heading for your city and you know that you will be in thick of the storm in a few hours. So you batten down the hatches and just try and hang on. For me it is best to just take it day by day. Faith is what will carry me through these trying times and strengthen me when I am in need. -B

Thursday, February 4, 2010

A Trip into the Wilderness


This past Sunday, we attended St. Paul's church for their 10:00 service to hear a friend of ours preach. St. Paul's is directly across the street from Ground Zero. When 9/11 occurred, this church opened its doors to the rescuers of the disaster. From that day forward, the church was forever changed.

Like I said above, we attended church there this past week. This service was incredible for several reasons. First, it was St. Paul’s. This chapel is a powerful place to visit. For NYC, it is quiet and somber inside. As you walk around the museum part of the chapel, you feel the emotional effects of 9/11….your heart aches. The displays show you the courage of firefighters, police, and volunteers trying to rescue survivors. You see the hearts of other volunteers as some displays tell about the food served, the massage’s given, the teddy bears placed on the tiny cots rescuers slept on, etc. These volunteers poured themselves out to the rescue volunteers in order to provide love and support as well as a place of comfort for much needed rest. Then there are notes and messages and origami… the pouring out from the people of our country and from around the world. It is truly an emotional experience to witness this love being spread out over and over in the midst of a terrible tragedy.

Second, the service (which is held in the center of this museum) is what I would call a “non-traditional” Episcopal service...which is a welcome break for me. High church is the name of the game here in the city. I don’t mind these….but sometimes it is nice to have a break from the formality of a high church service. This service follows the New Zealand prayer book. The structure and the prayers are different in this service (you might be able to tell it has an Episcopal flair to it). The music is non-traditional as well. As different as it was, it was full of life (esp. when the “droning” or humming started and the children could not stop laughing with our friend’s mom!). I found it comforting to be a part of the uniqueness of the service.

Finally, our friend Stefanie did the sermon. It was awesome to watch her deliver her sermon. She was so comfortable in front of everyone and her message was inspiring. She spoke about Jesus’ time in the wilderness being followed up by a visit home to the temple. His fellow town’s people reject him and what he has to say. They want to throw him off a cliff. Stefanie talked about trips into our own wildernesses and the change that comes from these trips. The message really struck home with me (see the blog about Sunsets to understand why). Trips to the wilderness do change people….and sometimes people like the change and sometimes people don’t like the change. It is all part of the journey.

Between this service and Stefanie’s sermon, I left with a sense of renewal. Seminary is a trip into the wilderness. As it is with life, this trip is not being done alone. We are all in the wilderness as individuals and as a community. Each one of us has different people to lean on along our way. Yet, it is still our personal trip into the great unknown. Then, you get to go home to the town’s people. Who knows…..maybe the thought of being thrown over cliffs is closer than you think. But I am sure not!!! I hope that we can each embrace our own individual change in order to grow into the person that God has created for us to be. Then you can say the trip was well worth the ride!

Thanks Stefanie for a great message!!