May 31, 2018 "Life Together".

Dear Friends

"Life Together" is a small book by Dietrich Bonhoeffer which, as the introduction states, "comes out of his own experience of the deep meaning of Christian community..."

At the Thomas Center for Senior Leadership where Kathleen and I are living, we are experiencing community in a new way.  Our fellow residents are living independently but they are also trying to create their own times and ways to be in community with each other without overt staff direction but rather gentle guidance and support. (Staff is a General Manager, Resident Assistant and Chaplain). It is an experiment with growing joys and pains and we are glad to be a part of it.

Bonhoeffer's book has chapters titled "The Day Alone" and "The Day with Others". We are experiencing that balance here. Scripture reflects that balance in these two verses: "For God alone my soul in silence waits" (Ps. 62:1) and "Let us not give up the habit of meeting together" (Heb. 10:25). Even the most extreme extrovert or introvert needs both solitude and the company of others. 

While there are scheduled times here for weekday coffee hour (10 am) and dinner (6 pm), other community times and moments of "two or three gathered together" happen as the Spirit creates them. And as the picture above shows, we don't have to stay in our rooms to experience the day alone...this path is just footsteps away from the Thomas Center front door.

John

P.S. Beyond experiencing the balancing of life in community, we are being made aware, in a new way, of our mortality. More about that soon.

Frosting on the cake

Dear Friends

Whether or not there is frosting on the cake I may or may not have tonight (after turning 66 at 5:07 am this morning), I find myself using that phrase more and more. I have won the lottery many times over. Whenever I stop to consider the full and rich life I have experienced---in terms of people who love me and people I love---in terms of experiences I have had and shared with others, filled with laughter and joy---in terms of all the places I have traveled including this current homestead in Anchorage---everything that I get to enjoy from now on is more "frosting on the cake". 

"Teach us to number our days..." That wise counsel from the psalmist has hit home hard as I have learned of the deaths of two priest/friends in just the past week. Eric and I graduated from seminary and were ordained together. He died of a sudden heart attack at the age of 63. George was a priest who became a bishop, a fellow Dodger fan. With another friend we visited Cooperstown in New York many years ago, a day long road trip I will never forget.  He died shortly after a stroke at the age of 68. Now 66 as of this morning, May 25th, I am trying with more intention and mindfulness to make every day count.

But then there was the horrible moment Kathleen and I witnessed just two days ago. A young boy who appeared to be about 12 rode past us in the cross walk on his bike as we waited for the left turn arrow to turn green. He made eye contact with Kathleen as if to be sure she saw him crossing. A moment later, out of our view, we heard a loud thud and suddenly saw his body flying across the street and dropping on the pavement. Some bystanders picked him up and brought him to the sidewalk. We do not know his fate but the ambulance drivers did not rush off after loading him on the stretcher or appear to administer any aid. We pray for him, his family, and the man who hit him, who walked heartbroken back to the scene.

I know scripture tells us there is a time to be born and a time to die but it is frustratingly not clear why some lives are cut so short, so suddenly, whether that be 12 or 63 or 68. It continues to be all frosting on the cake for me, but I hope I can use whatever time I have left---three days or three decades---to let the power of God's love be the driving force in my life as we heard Bishop Michael Curry preach so powerfully at the Royal Wedding. And, as Richard Baxter's hymn puts it, "let all thy days be filled with praise, whoever lives."

John

P.S. Kathleen took this photo of me jogging on a park path just across the street from St.Mary's a few mornings ago.

May 21st, 2018 It's nice to be needed

Dear Friends

It's nice to be needed! I'm writing this the day after Pentecost but the "baptism by fire" began in the days before Pentecost. By no one's fault, Kathleen and I were thrown into unexpected situations and needs that required immediate attention, almost from the time we landed. It's nice to be needed!

Beyond the expected adjustments of settling into a new home for four months, in a brand new city where the sun stays up very late and rises really early, buying a car (a 2015 Honda Civic with 30,000 miles---came with four brand new all season tires plus four snow tires which we hope to sell) we have already tasted some of the glorious wonders of nature within a quarter mile of the church/senior center campus where we are living.

Our adventure has begun. The gift through this time of change and figuring out our place has been meeting some wonderful people---Thomas Center residents and St. Mary's staff and members. Our welcome included brand new flannel sheets on the bed and a refrigerator stocked with, among other things, Alaskan Sausage. (See picture below and read label for key ingredient---hint: my nose turned red after just one bite!)

As a dear member of St. John's used to say, "See you along the trail".

John

P.S. If you haven't seen Bishop Curry's wedding homily, it is well worth your time.

May 13, 2018 All our bags are packed, we're ready to go...

Dear Friends

Fifty weeks ago this coming Sunday, May 20th, I celebrated my last service as rector of St. John's, Corona. It was the Day of Pentecost. With deeply mixed emotions, I trusted the Holy Spirit would open new doors. I have not been disappointed.

Behind Door #1 was a three month call to serve at St. Margaret's, San Juan Capistrano, during the rector's sabbatical. Behind Door #2 was a two month call to serve two missions on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. Door #3 opens this Tuesday, May 15th, as Kathleen and I fly to Anchorage, Alaska, to begin a four month position as live-in chaplain at the Thomas Center for Senior Leadership on the campus of St. Mary's Episcopal Church, where I will serve as adjunct priest during the rector's sabbatical. Our first Sunday, May 20th, will be the Day of Pentecost!

Thanks to Emily and Kathleen, I was able to interview for this position via Skype. And thanks to them again, I now have this blog which I hope some of you will enjoy following.

Thanks for your prayers for this new adventure (we're not entirely sure what were getting into!) as we will keep you in ours. 

John

P.S. On our first day in Alaska this Wednesday, sunrise will be 5:09 am and sunset will be 10:44 pm. The high is expected to be 50 degrees, the low 42, with a 50% chance of rain.