tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64830871368455251652024-02-20T12:51:39.809-08:00Musings From A Maine MeadowPaul Tunklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10473661912977674765noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6483087136845525165.post-4349234640857428682020-08-11T08:28:00.001-07:002020-08-11T08:28:17.463-07:00A Solution to a Pandemic Problem<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">I just heard that
the Dow Jones had hit a big high on the same day the WHO announced
that we have reached a worldwide infection rate of 20 million. And
last week the heads of the Big Four were before congress.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">So here’s what I
think. Those four Heads together represent an enormous resource
package. They could be the solution. First off, the pandemic cries
out for unified national policy and determination. We are getting
none of that and may not see anything until February at best. So
look no further in that direction for help. I suggest that the Big
Four (and many others) agree with the Feds to use their resources to
help combat the virus in exchange for tax credits. Let it even be
based on results. Then let the geniuses get together and put their
foundations’ resources to work. Like everyone gets tested every
day. Everywhere. They could make that happen. Better still,
solutions beyond my imagining, like they do with new product and
technology development. Only focused on bettering the virus. Who
better than our best and best resourced. And they will see their own
best interests served by this as well.</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">Why are we waiting
for help when none seems forthcoming. Only increases in numbers and
risks. Time for a new approach.</p>
<p>What do you think?<br /></p>Paul Tunklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10473661912977674765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6483087136845525165.post-57204089306888030502019-04-17T10:20:00.000-07:002019-04-17T10:20:14.370-07:00Looking into the Eyes of Mary Magdalene<h2>
</h2>
I have had the extraordinary privilege of seeing into the soul of
Mary Magdalene as she approached the empty tomb on Easter morning.
It happened in 1985 while I was serving as Assistant to the Rector
(Mayo Little) of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Salisbury, North
Carolina. I was newly ordained and willing to try things. So we had
an outdoor animal blessing. I partnered with a young Roman Catholic
priest. I was saying blessings and touching the critters. He was
more experienced and reticent. Some of the dogs were quite
aggressive. So he had a small pot of holy water and he used it
instead of full contact. I naively touched every animal or whatever
and then he gave it a shot of the holy water.<br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIwqcnd_qlE11OZGQOkwNVeoRGpNVSl9nh_cn-OTJnmOULm-tL2Y7OtMiGZOu_T86Z8ybFJcJKYQ0ISrGHi_MpL8yh6-zyq5kpwEPKsx3Kq2frYPuIxRClrti4AQXx14CE1YrNV-2svyga/s1600/hermit_crab_img_1793.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="970" data-original-width="1280" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIwqcnd_qlE11OZGQOkwNVeoRGpNVSl9nh_cn-OTJnmOULm-tL2Y7OtMiGZOu_T86Z8ybFJcJKYQ0ISrGHi_MpL8yh6-zyq5kpwEPKsx3Kq2frYPuIxRClrti4AQXx14CE1YrNV-2svyga/s320/hermit_crab_img_1793.jpg" width="320" /></a>
</div>
A lovely three year
old little girl (Mary Magdalene) was in line. She and her family
were members of St. Luke’s and we knew each other. She held in her
small hands a paper cup. As she approached me, I looked into the
cup. Down there at the bottom was a tiny dead hermit crab. She
looked like her best friend had died, which may have literally been
the case. She looked up at me with eyes filled with despair and
tears, and said, “Can you do anything about this?”<br />
<br />
<br />
I stammered a
prayer containing a plausibility denial clause. “If you are in
there, little crab, God bless you ... Now go see the other guy.”
My colleague then took the wand and hit the back of the crab with a
few drops of the holy water.
<br />
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Well! All I can
figure is that crab was all dried out. When the water hit its back,
it revived. Its claws extended, and lifted up, as if to say, “Get
me outta this cup!” The little girl looked down into the cup and
saw the movement. Then she lifted her face to look at me. I stood
transfixed as I looked deeply into her eyes. They were filled with
joy and wonder. It was like nothing I had ever seen before or since.
All I could imagine were the eyes of Mary Magdalene when she
encountered the Resurrected Lord.<br />
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih2tU5_zCGeMnywVnMQyLeYZefEiEwUOJ2qf4Q4dGWTmO8g87VzHFfUK1dSJtxsjQtUK5CrWxn_3QpJJj7s7BHPrckdHm33WL7_nI3WB8riFeY7ewvcqPCRFy2mbaq42hAGZRySdx-pvKR/s1600/Mary_Magdalene_03_1024x768_%2528www.GalaWallpapers.net%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih2tU5_zCGeMnywVnMQyLeYZefEiEwUOJ2qf4Q4dGWTmO8g87VzHFfUK1dSJtxsjQtUK5CrWxn_3QpJJj7s7BHPrckdHm33WL7_nI3WB8riFeY7ewvcqPCRFy2mbaq42hAGZRySdx-pvKR/s320/Mary_Magdalene_03_1024x768_%2528www.GalaWallpapers.net%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
The moment of grace
has never left me and no Easter ever comes without that vivid
recollection. Nor can I ever help but conjure up that image when I
hear the scripture read in which Mary, the First Apostle declares for the first time in
history, “I have seen the Lord.”<br />
<br />
I did not see the Lord that
day. But I saw the eyes of the one who did, and that alone had the
power to change my life.
Paul Tunklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10473661912977674765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6483087136845525165.post-79563695729304572412018-10-08T05:46:00.002-07:002018-10-08T05:46:51.536-07:00Trump and 16th Century Reformation<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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There is but a modest amount of information stored in my
memory of the history of the Church in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
since Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the twenty first
century in the United States, there is a theological divide with political
consequences that borders on outright violence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This in some way mirrors the conditions of the Church in the throes of
the Reformation.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am unwilling to do the proper research to make this a
scholarly accurate thesis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather my
purpose is to highlight a current dynamic in order to engender hope for today
and for the future.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The break from Rome to form new models for Church without
papacy led to a divide in ecclesiology, namely the theology of what is and who
is the Church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There existed fundamental
differences regarding authority, power and empire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although there were many “sides”, let us
agree for arguments sake, that there was a generally understood divide
characterized by the words Catholic and Protestant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The notion of Anti-Christ arose in this context.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the most extreme way to claim
authority to remove validity from those with whom they had experiences
schism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although they may all have
agreed to the orthodox teachings of the Nicene Creed, they remained out of
fellowship with one another, manifested primarily in the halls of power in
Europe.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Trump?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I use this
word to convey a political and theological movement going on right now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s call them the Protestants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those in another, characterized perhaps by
the word Bernie, let’s call Catholics.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Vote Your Values is being used by Protestants to advance the
cause in the political arena.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Catholics
are waiting to find expression in the same venue, through the coming elections.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Those Protestant and Catholic movements of old said one
thing clearly about the other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“THAT IS
NOT THE CHURCH.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>THIS IS THE CHURCH.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7O76AxJrfSVTichDYveZcwnxseoYHuUFDS5upBayibUiCoLfZITID-cqUzN3JxDQpIoE65ftvoTJ6nGZ7YXI7pGVM8KU8UcYF87gczmVpR4k4XgK_kVHBZkHJkofFsn9Fj6W91OZd7ZTB/s1600/Church+History.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="387" data-original-width="620" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7O76AxJrfSVTichDYveZcwnxseoYHuUFDS5upBayibUiCoLfZITID-cqUzN3JxDQpIoE65ftvoTJ6nGZ7YXI7pGVM8KU8UcYF87gczmVpR4k4XgK_kVHBZkHJkofFsn9Fj6W91OZd7ZTB/s400/Church+History.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Today’s version seems quite parallel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Archbishops and others were executed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The monarch determined the course of the
nation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The opposition stood
steadfast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have not yet shed blood
over this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the political games are
every bit as high stakes then as now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And people of faith went to the gallows for their faith.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We contemporary Christians have not been asked yet to bear
the full weight of implications for standing firm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have risked much with God and less so with
daily life and work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More may be asked
of us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Consider the legacy we received from those five hundred
years before us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It may be that we have
a time and circumstance that has not been seen in a long time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their salvation came through middle ground
and compromise, long crafted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What will
history record of our lives of faith?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The strongest evidence may be found in the political arena, then as now.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Paul Tunklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10473661912977674765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6483087136845525165.post-51402991457087766962017-08-20T08:29:00.000-07:002017-08-20T08:56:36.904-07:00A Total Eclipse of God’s Heart<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The eclipse of August 2<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">1</span>, 2017 is an event of cosmic
significance. We draw our very life from
our nearest star, the sun, and its eclipse means we are temporarily bereft of
its life giving power.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Late in the evening of August 24, 1997 our daughter Lea took
and ended her life. We learned of her
death the next morning, August 25. On
that day God’s heart of love was totally eclipsed by the tragedy and sense of
loss. A darkness large enough completely
blotted out any hint of God’s grace. Red
turned grey, and yellow white. (Moody Blues)
In fact there was a deep sense of betrayal, since I had prayed daily for
her healing for eighteen months, and the result on that morning was the worst
case possible.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This year’s eclipse marks the 20<sup>th</sup> anniversary of
the Great Eclipse of 1997. As we prepare
for and experience the cosmic eclipse, it is a time to reflect on other
eclipses in our lives. What events may
have struck terror in our hearts as did eclipses in the lives of people of ages
past? And yet within a few hours the
crisis will pass and the full sun will once more rule the heavens.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The eclipse associated with Lea’s departure has proved more long
lasting. For about a year it was as if
the moon had moved between the earth and the sun, and then stopped and froze
there. It was a year of near total
darknes<span id="goog_1183897481"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_1183897482"></span>s, followed by years of anguish as the slightest glimmers of light would
appear and then seem to recede again. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Over these twenty years I have come to recognize that there
will most likely never be a return of the sun in full force. There is no returning to the time of
innocence and happiness with was ours before the tragedy. But I have had time and my eyes have adjusted
to the lesser light. I have come to
believe that the sun is still there, although it is obscured by the deep sense
of emptiness and pain. Most days there
is enough light to function, and even well.
But this eclipse will likely never fully pass. And yet, as we gaze at the marvel of the sun
blocked by the moon, we experience a deeper appreciation for the sun and all it
does for us. So we have come to believe
that God’s love and grace have continued to sustain us on this journey.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Twenty years ago the lights went out. They have gradually come back up. This eclipse is an occasion to remember and
take stock. I miss Lea and I am glad to
be alive. This contradiction seems to
coexist, as do sun, moon and stars.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://gcdn.emol.cl/exploracion-espacial/files/2015/05/Eclipse-Solar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="274" data-original-width="500" height="175" src="https://gcdn.emol.cl/exploracion-espacial/files/2015/05/Eclipse-Solar.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Paul Tunklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10473661912977674765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6483087136845525165.post-69541425901151692472016-11-20T07:48:00.001-08:002016-11-20T07:48:41.055-08:00Two People – One Nation<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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It appears that we are a nation divided.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That much seems obvious when reviewing
election results.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two candidates, two
parties, two people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So who are these
two peoples?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The categories we currently
use don’t seem adequate or even appropriate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Let me suggest some that don’t work.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Trump supporters and Hilary supporters</div>
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Liberals and conservatives</div>
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Urban and rural</div>
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Republicans and Democrats</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They all fail because they are too discreet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They seem to push people into categories that
are not a good fit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One may be a
Democrat who voted for Trump.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One may be
a rural Democrat.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So I want to suggest two categories that I find helpful
right now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I will unpack each just a
bit so you understand what I am seeking to express.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here are my categories.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Fearful and Pessimistic</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Fearful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I see these
folks all over the political landscape.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They are fearful of a future with little promise of improvement for
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This in turn leads to fear of
those who may be perceived as responsible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Among these are Mexicans and other immigrants, who are perceived as
taking jobs away and draining benefits from the system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also Muslims, who are threatening our sense of
safety and security.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Non whites are seen
as remaking our society with diversity so that the past hegemony is
fading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now these folks might not
describe themselves as fearful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To the
contrary, they may see themselves as bold asserters of values and policies that
will Make America Great Again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But under
that bluster of superiority, I see folks who are unsure, afraid and needing
help and encouragement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They may have no
intention of hurting anyone else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
just want to feel OK and they don’t . So they have become a movement in our
nation; a movement that will address their fears but whose methods and
solutions are had at the expense of others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Surely there must be a better way to help the fearful.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pessimistic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These
are the folks who were deeply disappointed by the results of this
election.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have fallen into a deep
funk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some are protesting and promising
to organize resistance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others have
given in to resignation and cynicism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The nation is divided.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They see
themselves as the ones with the right values and solutions, and they feel
rejected by a nation that chose another way for now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They want things to be better, but they
cannot seem to present solutions with enough broad appeal, and the election hit
them hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They tend to be quite judgmental
toward the fearful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But they too need
compassion and understanding, because it isn’t working for them either.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdID57Z2JN-FOuc9HKlJn_wk5KQJtV018CRV4aSXcsUtGoO5JQnmyTQMe1uX7Bb2l6nveNxZ6bMsLawsZvEpsOgQT-k6_76CteE3aNN1eQiGM4RCMVyZqNUSyj0ykWFnJGxrHzeGvK1eyg/s1600/two-people-speech-bubbles1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdID57Z2JN-FOuc9HKlJn_wk5KQJtV018CRV4aSXcsUtGoO5JQnmyTQMe1uX7Bb2l6nveNxZ6bMsLawsZvEpsOgQT-k6_76CteE3aNN1eQiGM4RCMVyZqNUSyj0ykWFnJGxrHzeGvK1eyg/s320/two-people-speech-bubbles1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Fearful vs. Pessimistic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Neither is particularly attractive because neither is inclusive enough
to encompass the other’s perspective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
we met an individual who was fearful, we would want to reassure and offer
help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also might want to take away
their guns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fear and guns are a dangerous
dynamic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we met an individual who was
pessimistic, we would likewise try to offer encouragement and hope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We might also relieve them of decisions about
redistribution of resources.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pessimism
and resignation can lead to reckless abandon since the future is beyond repair.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So wherever we find ourselves today, we are deserving of
some understanding and forbearance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
see ourselves in the other and discover we are not so very different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all hope for a better tomorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have differing opinions on what happened
and what needs to happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we all
agree something needs to happen.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As we journey forward from now as two people and one nation,
it is too easy to condemn and too convenient to avoid self examination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neither side is all right or all wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are still trying to get this right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As two people, let’s not lose the deeper
reality that we are also one nation.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Paul Tunklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10473661912977674765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6483087136845525165.post-19742547093774482872016-11-10T14:19:00.000-08:002016-11-10T14:19:35.051-08:00Dietrich Bonhoeffer and this Election<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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I am angry, upset and disappointed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But wait until you read what has upset
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trump?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>People everywhere of conscience are upset.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what really galls me is the feeling of
powerlessness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I voted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got a sticker that says, “I voted today.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wrote on it these words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b>“And look what it got me.”</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this is what has got me so upset.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My faith community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>By which I mean the Episcopal Church.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In a clergy meeting many months ago, I expressed myself in
the presence of the clergy and Bishop of Maine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My position was that this election had more at stake than elections of
the recent past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My position was that
the church needed to name the issues, the characters, and call the spade a
spade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My position was that the church
should openly oppose Donald Trump’s bid for the presidency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was fully aware of the church’s official
position.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Talk about issues but not
about candidates.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To fail this test is
to jeopardize our tax exempt status as a church.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You know what?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would have gladly sacrificed our precious and mostly unjustifiable tax exempt
status if it meant having more power over what happened on Tuesday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imagine Dietrich Bonhoeffer being told to
hush about Hitler because his church might lose its tax exempt status.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His martyrdom makes us look like toothless wonders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The church should be willing to endure the
fiscal martyrdom of the loss of our tax exempt status if the trade off is the
deal with the devil that silences us in a critical time.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let us honor all those brave leaders who have spoken out on
the election from within the agreed parameters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Let us appreciate that most clergy are under too many ecclesiastical
restraints to take a controversial stand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Congregations generally cannot tolerate clergy who are partisan,
outspoken, passionate and who name evil as evil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My former parishioners in Baltimore know what
a mess I might have caused if I had still been their rector during this season
of crisis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the Episcopal
Church, we are far too reluctant to address human sin directly, to name it and
to oppose it with word and deed, especially when it costs us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4KQK89bnSfkEI_ze7WDtz4MUWWVJyLm0iBaD2lOuG0oYc3gcpc50Ef6JnQsKTTGSSKgdG2oAZ6H-YLWC84MpHSd1ulSGxjDBuMi9BpmJabEhIBR3wGx_tQwrw_EyOgNiUVLoz-o3ryOWo/s1600/silenced.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4KQK89bnSfkEI_ze7WDtz4MUWWVJyLm0iBaD2lOuG0oYc3gcpc50Ef6JnQsKTTGSSKgdG2oAZ6H-YLWC84MpHSd1ulSGxjDBuMi9BpmJabEhIBR3wGx_tQwrw_EyOgNiUVLoz-o3ryOWo/s320/silenced.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So our little cozy relationship with federal tax law has led
to us muting our voices as a critical time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And as my cute little sticker says, <b>“look what it got us.”</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I no longer have a pulpit so here is where I blow off on
this one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our Episcopal church has let us
down. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We need members, and ordained
leaders to put their stuff on the line for the cause when it is this
important.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To fail to name Trump as a
bigot, a sexist, a racist, a xenophobe, and an islamophobe, is a sin for which
we have to repent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it is a sin that
has consequences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Could we have swung
the election?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Probably not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the effort would have been noble and
righteous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have a lot to answer
for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that is why I am angry, upset
and disappointed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Paul Tunklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10473661912977674765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6483087136845525165.post-49135166470647546592016-08-24T04:07:00.000-07:002016-08-24T04:07:28.857-07:00Today is my personal 9/11<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We each have our own personal 9/11.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mine is today.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Remember September 11, 2001.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That’s not difficult for anyone who was alive and aware on that
day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only was it a day of disaster
for everyone affected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the
implications and subsequent actions of that day have spread a level of violence
around the Middle East and over Europe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even our own nation today is gripped by a sense of dread and fear that
is a major factor in our presidential election.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And all this is fifteen years after “the event”.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It is hard to think about that day of disaster and the
aftermath without the realization that we have been formed by the history we
have lived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so it is for each of us
as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We may have lost someone on
9/11.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We may have lost someone in the
following wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, or in the other conflicts around the
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or we may know someone who
experienced this loss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would suspect
we are only one degree of separation from someone affected by 9/11 and its
aftermath.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">But each of us has another 9/11.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is our own day of personal disaster which
has formed and informed our lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No
one makes it through this life unscathed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In fact, the times of trial are in large measure what make us who we
are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As human beings we know successes
and tragedies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We celebrate
anniversaries and birthdays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the
9/11 days are often ones we hold in our hearts and suffer in privacy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How tragic that we do not share these as well
since they are equally and sometimes even more important in our lives.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Today is my own personal 9/11.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On this day in 1997 my daughter Lea, at age
22, ended her life by her own hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
was beautiful, intelligent and troubled by demons that I know little
about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I carry the deep sadness of her
loss every day and cherish the memories which over time are fading, to my great
sorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her life ended and mine was
changed forever.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is not a secret I must keep, or a person I must pretend
did not exist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To this day I hesitate
when asked by a new acquaintance, “Do you have children?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have two wonderful living children. Sam lives in Florida with his family and is a medical doctor. Elizabeth lives in Baltimore and is a nurse. Sometimes I answer with information about them, and choose not to get into the whole story of Lea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But every time I feel so insincere and afraid
I am committing an act of betrayal against Lea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Yet mentioning that I had another daughter who died is quite the
conversation stopper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Often it is just
silence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes in evokes an “I’m
sorry”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And occasionally it brings forth
“What happened?” with sincere concern.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
choose the context in which I allow such pain to resurface and with whom to
share it.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">9/11.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
survived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were changed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are still struggling to live into the
world it created.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And there is no
denying it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we are all survivors of
our own 9/11 events, those times of tragedy and loss which have made and indelible
mark on our lives, our psyches, and our subsequent actions and decisions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope Lea’s death has made me a more
compassionate person and someone more passionate about making this a world
where such suffering is in decline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
I know that my own 9/11 and your own 9/11 can be shared with one another in
such a way that we are all empowered to live more authentic, faithful and
decent human lives.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Today is my own personal 9/11, and I will forever honor its
memory and meaning for me and anyone who claims to know and love me.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv2YCkZNNvWThJtktuLnDLrtSwhrVdHZONLBeoX12DSF7fdAaDov3JMkBjbX8BjxAwD9FvYDJwxOKk6RyHUxrk3sbokp3CwEOxSZTfVholaq_Jon2NNjhSmOId8B9Fm9M3_7q1yOSJb6v5/s1600/Lea+%252821%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv2YCkZNNvWThJtktuLnDLrtSwhrVdHZONLBeoX12DSF7fdAaDov3JMkBjbX8BjxAwD9FvYDJwxOKk6RyHUxrk3sbokp3CwEOxSZTfVholaq_Jon2NNjhSmOId8B9Fm9M3_7q1yOSJb6v5/s320/Lea+%252821%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a> </span></div>
Paul Tunklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10473661912977674765noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6483087136845525165.post-19007957929896310162016-04-26T14:15:00.001-07:002016-04-26T14:15:25.236-07:00North Carolina, Mississippi ... BDS?<div class="passageref">
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LGBTQ rights advocates are acknowledging the decisions of
many celebrities, businesses and civic institutions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These artists, corporate boards and city councils
have taken actions to boycott taking their money and presence to North Carolina
and Mississippi because these states have enacted laws denying equal rights to
transgender people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The power of an
economic boycott has been the means by which people are taking a stand for
equal rights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This political action has
a long history and has been used effectively to change laws and even national government
policies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two examples are the Montgomery Bus Boycott led by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and
the South Africa boycott that was given such strong expression by Archbishop
Desmond Tutu.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To those who have lent
their support to this most recent expression of opposition to human rights
violations in North Carolina and Mississippi I say, BRAVO!</div>
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But …<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now that we
have acknowledged the legitimacy and appropriateness of this kind of
political action, it’s time to bring this approval and support to one of the
most pressing human rights issues in our world today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we approve of the actions regarding
boycotting North Carolina and Mississippi, let’s take it to a larger and more potentially
deadly venue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is long past time for
people of conscience to support this action against those who would deny human
rights on the basis of racism, religious discrimination, and ethnic difference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Are you among </span>those who support the
boycott as a means of bringing social change and promoting equal human rights?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Then I invite you to support </span>the boycott against the State of Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
movement is known as BDS, for Boycott, Disinvest, Sanction.</div>
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If we care about human rights for human beings who are
identified as LGBTQ, then let us care about human rights for human beings who
are identified as Palestinian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I won’t
argue the case of the State of Israel denying the human rights of Palestinians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That seems to be sufficiently documented by
the United Nations and the international community of nations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I argue for is the crossing of the line
that has to date failed to get the kind of attention and participation which
the boycotts of North Carolina and Mississippi have gained.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a sense it is politically incorrect to be
insensitive to the rights of LGBTQ persons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So why is it not politically incorrect to be insensitive to the rights
of Palestinians?</div>
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The statements of officials from North Carolina and Mississippi are not changing the decisions to boycott. Only a change in the laws of those states will make that happen. The statements of officials from Israel should not change the decisions to join the BDS movement. Only a change in the laws and policies and actions of the State of Israel will make that happen. </div>
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Don’t give concerts, don’t hold meetings and conventions,
and don’t spend civic dollars on trips to Israel as long as they continue to
deny equal rights to Palestinians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let
our sense of justice for LGBTQ persons also extend to Palestinians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Justice for some, or justice for all?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s time, it’s past time, it’s about time.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh64R_WUs3keTmp0Nt0RcnNrH3qbxEBZv6CvGEjpUC7mZv4YkwsBActjeDBMfASOpHcktlePdzi3q0xThsFxQgDHHSQefmNGyk3z1vSX0v9fhpSNTa0o_WdGiUopQp91Z5I9OFqTFJDzBTW/s1600/BDS.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh64R_WUs3keTmp0Nt0RcnNrH3qbxEBZv6CvGEjpUC7mZv4YkwsBActjeDBMfASOpHcktlePdzi3q0xThsFxQgDHHSQefmNGyk3z1vSX0v9fhpSNTa0o_WdGiUopQp91Z5I9OFqTFJDzBTW/s1600/BDS.gif" /></a></div>
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Paul Tunklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10473661912977674765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6483087136845525165.post-43533449083518768902015-12-10T05:25:00.001-08:002015-12-10T05:31:28.383-08:00My personal experience of Syria<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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My personal experience of Syria is so very different from
what is being portrayed in the media today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In 2003 I traveled to three Muslim countries in the Middle East.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The trip was sponsored by a Muslim
organization whose goal was to promote peace and understanding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their intention on this trip was to allow
Christian leaders from the U.S. to experience Islam as it is practiced in Syria, Egypt and
Jordan.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBog6IHDGzRSp_YVimiHjYaCTAZp24fB5XP-6VlqvFAyBzcG383Lfq5eXreP2sBrfMMXVSdWEJVGvSXJ8Z0QCT4Quzc_0ziKaByYNrfDJ3gJLEwXsyMDhwXKqTZiDPPaCJqn9fG42yQCT7/s1600/100-0068_IMG.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBog6IHDGzRSp_YVimiHjYaCTAZp24fB5XP-6VlqvFAyBzcG383Lfq5eXreP2sBrfMMXVSdWEJVGvSXJ8Z0QCT4Quzc_0ziKaByYNrfDJ3gJLEwXsyMDhwXKqTZiDPPaCJqn9fG42yQCT7/s320/100-0068_IMG.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Two imams accompanied us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One was from Baltimore and one from San Diego.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What we experienced changed my understanding,
attitude and theology about Islam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
came to know that as a Christian I am related to Muslims as sisters and
brothers in God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have similar basic
beliefs about God and our hopes and dreams for God’s presence among us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We pray for the same peace and work for the
same mutual good of all people.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8-tpsHzvggFyFAerPU1YhgoAgcqCV98VnpYgtDeAy86PPYGsqMy2TCJEGJFS-2JTetlfICsk7z69pcamZeOLEHonxW6mSI53-qACDUWnpsP_sudEl6qnUg4pOknOPCLhyphenhyphen82huP66p2n2U/s1600/101-0113_IMG.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8-tpsHzvggFyFAerPU1YhgoAgcqCV98VnpYgtDeAy86PPYGsqMy2TCJEGJFS-2JTetlfICsk7z69pcamZeOLEHonxW6mSI53-qACDUWnpsP_sudEl6qnUg4pOknOPCLhyphenhyphen82huP66p2n2U/s320/101-0113_IMG.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We met with university presidents, cabinet level government
officials and the highest ranking Muslim religious leaders in each country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here is a brief abstract of what I have
learned.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Syrians I met love their families just like us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They worship God in public gatherings just
like us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They practice private prayers
in ways that are more devout than many of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They tithe for the relief of the poor with something they call zakat,
one of the Five Pillars of Islam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Basically
they give 2.5% of their income to the poor, apart from any contributions they
may make to their local mosque.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
practice hospitality which is substantially greater than our cultural
norms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And they love peace as much as we
do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They mean us no harm and are
appalled at violence in the name of religion.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgr7fNQC6cwWGooNYuGnKUnL4p2l_upu1FTLlp-kgogxPWmjNTpB9X49XE-mz2pcFAsc8sNtpuzfTGuWVkn7KrkS8kO3W0Spil6gYbF1Cb8Z2uIT6TJRwbSNIOjOdiMQcc259FT74UW_If/s1600/100-0053_IMG.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgr7fNQC6cwWGooNYuGnKUnL4p2l_upu1FTLlp-kgogxPWmjNTpB9X49XE-mz2pcFAsc8sNtpuzfTGuWVkn7KrkS8kO3W0Spil6gYbF1Cb8Z2uIT6TJRwbSNIOjOdiMQcc259FT74UW_If/s320/100-0053_IMG.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Although we are hearing a lot these days that would push us
into reaching other conclusions about Muslims from the Middle East, this trip
helped me realize that the vast majority of the worlds Muslims practice mainstream moderate Islam which looks like what we found in
Syria and not like what the media is reporting.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Every mass shooting in the U.S. pushes people throughout the
world into believing everyone in America is a gun toting violent lunatic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We know that is not so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope this helps others realize that what
many public figures are saying about Muslims just isn’t so.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As a disciple of Jesus Christ, I believe Muslims are my
sisters and brothers in God.</div>
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Paul Tunklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10473661912977674765noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6483087136845525165.post-151943376863883502015-08-19T05:10:00.001-07:002015-08-19T05:10:48.783-07:00Rockland and Galilee<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Rockland, Maine is my Galilee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Judy and I had been married a few months when
we arrived there, in a beat up VW and basically penniless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were expecting our first child and, as
they say, unencumbered by the thought process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We rode up Route One from Massachusetts and ran out of gas in Rockland,
looked around, and said, “Let’s live here.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was October of 1972.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">We didn’t know a soul.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We found a small apartment and began looking for work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a serious recession and people were
reluctant to hire someone they didn’t know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was flummoxed when in job interviews I was asked, “Who is your father?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Judy’s idea was that we go to church so we could meet
people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was nervous but agreed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We found St. Peter’s Episcopal Church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was in the process of reading the bible for
the first time and curious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So it
began.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They took us in and welcomed
us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a year Bishop Wolf made a
visitation and I was baptized, along with my son, confirmed, and received Holy
Communion for the first time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everything
changed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Jesus was walking along by the shore of Lake Galilee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He saw Peter and said, “Follow me.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He, too, seemed unencumbered by the thought
process, dropped everything and changed course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So it began and soon everything changed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">It was our plan to return to Maine after seminary and serve
a parish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But fate took us on a detour
to North Carolina then to New Jersey then to Louisiana then to Maryland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it was toward the end of the time in
Maryland that I began to long for the beginnings, for the intensity and the
calling I first received in Maine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peter
also heard this message from Mary Magdalene on Easter Sunday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus said to her, ‘Do not be afraid; go and
tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Matthew 28:10)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">On Saturday, August 15<sup>th</sup>, Judy and I returned to
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Rockland, Maine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The occasion was a celebration of new
ministry and welcoming a new rector.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
was like returning to Galilee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Memories
flooded back as we sat in the pew on the same side we used when we had our
first encounters there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As they liturgy
moved through the renewal of baptismal vows using water in the font, I looked
with astonishment at that font and was aware that was where I came alive in
Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we received communion, Judy
and I knelt at the same rail side by side just like when we first began the
journey.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">We were in Rockland, Maine and I was back in Galilee, where
Jesus first called me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forty years
later, the memories were more than just recollections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were reanimated as I stood in the place
where so many significant spiritual milestones occurred.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rockland is a good place for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can never forget what began there and who I
met there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His voice and call have
changed over the years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when I need
reminding or renewing, Galilee is just down the road.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsUP7L1JwYnFPhGc8Oemn35XqTPaWN0wLzYdQnVLfNRZ_SIV96Hu56hMUFzh_hZoTTDPMsCpsTqDqylTmMYYG1gXknLFMK0ZKYebSGKsgxXjMjZoYiDFRFtYUGWJEYd8ghe3eX6i1ajaNi/s1600/DivImage.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsUP7L1JwYnFPhGc8Oemn35XqTPaWN0wLzYdQnVLfNRZ_SIV96Hu56hMUFzh_hZoTTDPMsCpsTqDqylTmMYYG1gXknLFMK0ZKYebSGKsgxXjMjZoYiDFRFtYUGWJEYd8ghe3eX6i1ajaNi/s320/DivImage.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Paul Tunklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10473661912977674765noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6483087136845525165.post-89043995093908047012015-05-21T03:48:00.001-07:002015-05-21T03:48:39.415-07:00A New Perspective on Pentecost<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
This coming Sunday, May 24, we celebrate the Feast of
Pentecost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many churches see this as a
sort of birthday of the church and a reminder of its core mission.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The parish I now serve will have an unusual
Pentecost this year.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://saintphilips.episcopalmaine.org/index.html" target="_blank">St. Philip’s</a> in Wiscasset is a small parish that has
experienced decline in membership and resources over the past decade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We now number around thirty on a good Sunday,
which includes a dozen children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have
been meeting as a vestry and parish to talk about our future viability.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the most significant aspects of St. Philip’s ministry
is its outreach to the poor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Around 150
people receive food each week from our Help Yourself Shelf food pantry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have a Bargain Basement where many items
can be purchased for pennies on the dollar of their actual value when new.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is also our policy to provide items at no
cost for any family which has experienced a disastrous loss such as a fire.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
St. Philip’s was also instrumental in starting a ministry called
Feed Our Scholars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This program collects
funds which are used to purchase food from the food bank.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This food is then sorted and delivered to the
local schools, where it is used each Friday to fill the backpacks of students on
the free or reduced school lunch program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For most of these students, this meal is their most significant one of
the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One in four children in Maine is
food insecure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are students whose
families will need the food to make it through the weekend.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, back to Pentecost this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A local organization is sponsoring a half
marathon on Sunday morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have
solicited volunteers and have promised St. Philip’s that if we can provide
twelve volunteers, they will donate $1,000 to the Feed Our Scholars Program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The parish considers this ministry so
important and the need for funds so great that we have people lined up for
Sunday morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With our Sunday
attendance diminished by twelve or more, we decided that there would be too few
in church to enable us to have a service for Pentecost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So the vestry decided to move our Pentecost
service to Saturday at 5 pm.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With barely enough financial resources to keep our doors
open, the parish has a heart that cares for others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When an opportunity arises for helping the
poor, they choose that option over their own worship preferences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit
and the birth of the church, this is a case study in a parish that is seeking
to carry on its ministry even in the face of small numbers and profound
financial challenges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I see the Holy
Spirit at work among us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pentecost blessings on us all.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/WiscassetFeedOurScholars" target="_blank">FeedOurScholars</a> </div>
Paul Tunklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10473661912977674765noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6483087136845525165.post-48946294414016789972015-02-19T08:28:00.000-08:002015-02-19T08:37:02.934-08:00Time and WorkThis Lent I am using a resource provided by the <a href="http://ssje.org/ssje/time/">Society of St. John the Evangelist</a> in Cambridge, Mass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Today’s meditation was on time and priorities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When work was mentioned, it took me with it
to a reflection on my life and work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
speaker talked about time in five categories: stop, pray, work, play and
love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I realized that when I was working
as a rector full time, I allowed my work to consume the disproportionately
largest part of my time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I even
convinced myself that I was tending to the other areas within my life’s time as
sub categories of work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I stopped, but
it was on a retreat whose time and cost was borne by the church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would pray, but on church time and fully
justified.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would play, but most often
with church people and in the context of a church program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I loved others and most of those others were
members of the parish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, isn’t
one of the job descriptions of a rector: “a professional lover of the people of
God.”<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTWmQWB_bZauk7byaeMlx1GJjZbEFRxGz5odhONuIUFZM-h8WQSub9rRVWbb3gPRsNl-F6CruGzakbZu6TRljsB-ap5fMGxJcuLTLC1aG4zmYO9mV9k_Nccj3AjwMlUTIQdQxOYg1yT4Am/s1600/Snow+Shoeing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTWmQWB_bZauk7byaeMlx1GJjZbEFRxGz5odhONuIUFZM-h8WQSub9rRVWbb3gPRsNl-F6CruGzakbZu6TRljsB-ap5fMGxJcuLTLC1aG4zmYO9mV9k_Nccj3AjwMlUTIQdQxOYg1yT4Am/s1600/Snow+Shoeing.jpg" height="400" width="225" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now time is reordering itself in a new stage of life and a
new context.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yesterday was Ash Wednesday
and we had the church service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I am
also taking time to pray at home on my own time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not work related.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In two weeks I will make a silent retreat at
Holy Cross in West Park, NY.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this
year it is on my own dime and for no particular “professional” purpose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope to listen to what God is saying about
my life now in my new setting and circumstances, much of which are not necessarily
focused on parish life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not work
related.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This morning Judy and I “walked”
across the river, using our new snow shoes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The woods were white and silent and the snow was many feet deep with a
new half foot of powder overnight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
play is spiritual in nature, and “in nature”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not work related.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the
relationships of my life are spreading across new boundaries of community,
family, history and geography.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not work
related.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I realized only too well how aptly the SSJE meditation applied
to my life of work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Many of us have a
disordered relationship to time and work, and work drives us and consumes our
time in ways that we experience as unhealthy and unwholesome.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Although I am coming to this new awareness in the context of
“retirement” I know it needn’t have waited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I could have been better at balancing out the life and time God has
given me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That balance can mitigate against
unnecessary burnout.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We clergy often
think of our work as so very essential that no excess of it can be a source of complaint
since it is all so very holy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
holiness includes wholeness and that holistic way of living inevitably involves
limits, boundaries and balance in addition to self forgetting and passionate
commitment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wish I knew then what I
know now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But all we have is now.</div>
Paul Tunklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10473661912977674765noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6483087136845525165.post-86378395998087573332015-02-05T08:12:00.000-08:002015-02-05T08:12:32.108-08:00A Mindfulness with a New Name<div class="MsoNormal">
With Heather Cook’s indictment comes an awakened mindfulness
and concern.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her problems and its
consequences have brought me to question and reexamine my own behavior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have a history of using alcohol.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has been a help when I was shy about
dancing or going out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As someone who is
socially insecure, I have used alcohol to bolster my courage at a party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also enjoy a drink at home before dinner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And of course, there is beer and the Super
Bowl.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Heather has been the occasion for me to reexamine these
patterns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And she has also brought up
the many ways that alcohol has been a less than healthy dynamic in my
experience of the Episcopal Church.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I learned about sipping sherry in seminary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I discovered that social drinking was required
at most of my interviews for positions in the church.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The first clergy conference I attended as an ordained person
was in North Carolina.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The conference
was entirely funded by a gift to the diocese at no cost to the clergy or
parishes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We arrived to be welcomed by
an open bar serving hard liquor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all
acted like we were at an all you can eat buffet trying to get our money’s
worth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At dinner there was a large
bottle of wine at each table.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Out came
the shrimp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then they served the prime
rib.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we enjoyed the dessert,
drinking all the while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then they
lowered the lights and the bishop addressed us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Many of us slid down in our seats and either fell asleep or passed out.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Fast forward one year to the next conference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No open bar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There was wine on the table.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
shrimp was served, followed by dessert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>No prime rib.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then the bishop
spoke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He reminded us we misbehaved the
prior conference and these were his steps to address our adolescent
behavior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In an ironic way, it was my
first experience of being called to accountability by my bishop regarding
alcohol use.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In Louisiana the Mardi Gras traditions were occasions for
liberal partaking of alcohol.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So much so
that some took it upon themselves to fast from alcohol (and sex) during
Lent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It certainly put extra drama into
the Great Alleluia of the Easter Vigil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But it also made people mindful of the role alcohol played in their
lives.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Over the years, I have led vestry retreats where nearly
every attendee brought a bottle of hard stuff for the social hour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have been at conventions where the
afternoon session ended as people nearly stampeded to the bar, and others met
in small groups in hotel rooms for drinks before dinner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I have supported serving wine before
dinner at midweek Lenten Series Programs.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When Heather’s tragedy began to sink in, I was
discomforted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was angry at her
irresponsibility and its consequences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
was angry at the Nominating Committee and the Standing Committee and the
Diocesan Bishop and now the Presiding Bishop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was one of those who voted for her at the electing convention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I refused to accept any responsibility
and kept putting it elsewhere.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yet she has been the occasion for me to ask myself some hard
questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What do I drink and why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When do I assume I am OK to drive and is that
assessment correct when I am the one making it and I have been drinking?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Am I dependent on alcohol?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So initially I just stopped drinking altogether.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was going to prove that I was OK.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But was this like the many diets that have never become new
lifestyles?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And was it even necessary?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now I am mindful when I drink.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What am I doing and why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is still a source of pleasure and
socialization.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But is has a darker side
I dare not ignore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Drinking at home in the
evening when I’ve no place to go is one thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Drinking at a party or a restaurant when I have to drive home is
another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And am I drinking because I
want to or because I need to or because I feel pressured to?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was recently instituted as the Priest in Charge of a
parish in Maine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The event included a
luncheon after church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bishop’s
guidelines stipulated that since people would have driven some distance to the
event and had to drive home, no alcohol was to be served.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I consider this good leadership.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On Saturday coming we will host an afternoon open house for
the parish and for a House Blessing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
we put together the shopping list, we considered wine and decided not to serve
any.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We saw this as our first
opportunity post Heather to make decisions about alcohol and church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I will let people know why we made this
decision.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I will continue to use alcohol.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Heather has made me mindful of this
substance and its consequences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In most
cases it will be OK.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But sometimes its
risks just won’t be worth it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the
Apostle Paul wrote, “If eating meat sacrificed to an idol causes another to
stumble, I won’t eat meat again.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This
is the new mindfulness and awareness in my life, and if I had to give it a
name, it would be . . . </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Heather </div>
Paul Tunklehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10473661912977674765noreply@blogger.com1