Women Deacons

I was reading First Letter of Paul to Timothy, 3:1-13.  It gives the qualifications for a bishop and then for a deacon.  Then it says, "Women, similarly," in the section on deacons.  It goes on to say what qualities they should have.  Then it continues with more on deacons.  Seems to me that women were included in the deacon section.  So what happened?

20% Chance

When the weather forecast says "20% chance of rain," the monastery seems to be wherever that 20% is going to fall.  Actually, the forecast showed clear sky for us all day.  It just rained.  We were without hot water in one wing where the monks live.  We just got a new water heater installed today.  Our fields cannot dry out.  We cannot hay.  No hay=no income from hay.  Then I think of Boulder and the whole front range of Colorado.  I don't like to see other people suffer, but we need to keep our misery in perspective.  I guess that Boulder residents could compare their misery to a third world country's sufferings.  But at the moment, Boulder is looking kind of third world.  I hear that Albuquerque is not doing so well either.  Lots of mess.

Equal Opportunity

Global warming is an equal opportunity destroyer.  Just look at Boulder.  Living on a hill in a gated community did not do much for you.  Living next to the babbling brook did even worse.  Now for the future.  If you are thinking of living in Boulder because your friends are here, then you will stay for your friends.  If you are staying for the outdoor lifestyle, you might consider another running and biking/hiking venue.  Outdoors here is full of canyons and mountains that are messy for living in global warming.  There is no global warming?  OK.  Have your life turned upside down for some other reason you choose.  I have always stayed in Boulder and come back to Boulder for the people, my friends and church congregation.  There are better places/weather for running.  The restaurants and culture are a bit minimal.  I don't like cold weather.  I can get used to running on a soft trail in the rain, but I never get used to the cold.  I don't bike.  The scenery?  From downtown Boulder, I would take San Francisco anytime, and I prefer the ocean to the mountains.  No, it is people that keep me coming back.  They leave for safer places?  I leave too.

Enough Pictures

I found myself looking at disaster photos of Boulder on the internet.  Wait. What am I doing?  I found myself becoming more sad and inert.  Forget the disaster photos.
The nation is looking at the mess and saying, "Wow!  Glad that is not me."  We need to get out and do something practical to get our lives going.  Like what?  Get in your car when you can and drive around.  Can I get from A to B as I used to?  Is a road closed because it has water, that will go away, and mud that can be plowed away?  Or is it destroyed for a long time?  This is practical help.  What are the hardware stores out of that we all need?  How hard is it to get a new water heater?  Are the running paths and biking paths in need of a little drying out and then we can use them again in a week, or are they gone? What institutional buildings are destroyed? A church, library, bus terminal, school, supermarket,  and won't be good for eons.  Can I still get my ice cream on the Pearl Street Mall? Why should twenty of us have to find this out separately?  Find out and then get the word out.

God At Work

Today, with yet more rain falling outside, I gave a workshop on the 11th step (prayer and meditation) to 60 people.  We did not even have 60 chairs in our retreat center room at the monastery.  But they stayed, all 60.  When I give a talk on recovery issues, I realize that the people have come not to get a bit more spiritual than they are, but rather to stay out of the disaster of a life they do not forget.  The first 10 steps pulled them out of drowning in the raging waters of their addiction or living with an addicted person.  Now they wanted to learn how to live on the dry shore.  They hunger for an inner healing, a transformation, if you will.  They are more than simply "interested" in the topic.  This could put a lot of pressure on someone like me who tries not to practice bad behavior each day.  Some people try to do good.  I try to avoid doing bad.  I fall into good!  Anyway, I did not feel much pressure, because God is at work in bringing us all together this day.  How do I know?  Well, I had a five page outline for my talk, but in reviewing it beforehand, I had left page four as the opening page.  A mistake? Maybe not.  I began my talk from page four, from the middle.  It should have proved an illogical mess.  The talk and the progression of thoughts were just what they wanted, as I was told later.  That is God at work.  I just have to stay connected to the Power of the Presence.  It is the 11th step.  

Celibacy

The Vatican's new Secretary of State said that we can discuss celibacy, but that the church's efforts to keep it must not be seen as a thing of the past.  Ah, it is a thing of the past.  Make it optional.  That way, parishes that cannot afford to even support one celebate priest, do not have to close.  Married guys get the rich parishes and the celibates get the poor ones.  Well, that is one reason a lot of priests won't want a change!

Jesus in Syria

Jesus says to love your enemies.  If someone takes something from you, just let it be.  Turn the other cheek, and so on.  This is more than radical in the Middle East world where he lived.  There, it is all tribal and clan.  One side gets all and the other side gets annilated.  Syria is about tribal and clan warfare.  It is only a country because the European powers carved it up to be so.  Jesus might be admired, but not followed in that world.  For some of us, he did reveal God's view of things.  We are all equal, but only a very holy person could see and act out in this way.  Love does not drive the clan mentality beyond the clan.  Baptism does not seem to be able to trump tribal loyalties in that part of the world.  Not sure it does here either, but our tribe is more often money, or skin color.