AND IN HONOR OF HANUKKAH...

It was Hanukkah and the tiny village was in fear of not having any latkes because they had run out of flour. Rudi, the local rabbi, was called upon to help solve the problem.

He told the village wives, "Don't worry, ladies, you can substitute matzo meal for the flour, and the latkes will be just as delicious!"

Sheila looks to her husband and says, "Morty, do you think this would really work?"

"Of course it will!" he replied: "Everybody knows Rudolph the Reb knows grain, dear!"

Don't blame me. Blame Paul (A.) And I'm trying to decide what Paul's punishment should be: tarring and feathering or simply shunning.

HANUKKAH BLESSINGS

First Blessing

Borukh Ato Adoynoy Eloyheynu Melekh Ho-oylom Asher Kiddeshonu Be-mitsvoysov Ve-tsivonu Lehadlik Neyr Shel khanuko.

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us by His commandments, and has commanded us to kindle the lights of Hanukkah.

Second Blessing

Borukh Ato Adoynoy Eloyheynu Melekh Ho-oylom She-oso Nissim La-avoseynu Ba-yyomim Ho-heym Ba-zzman Ha-zze.

Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the universe, who wrought miracles for our fathers in days of old, at this season.

Third Blessing

Borukh Ato Adoynoy Eloyheynu Melekh Ho-oylom She-hekheyonu Ve-kiymonu Ve-higgi'onu La-zzman Ha-zze.

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has kept us alive, and has preserved us, and enabled us to reach this time.

The blessings are lovely.

From the comments in 2008:

Rhonda Renée said...

Thank you for honoring our Jewish friends by posting the Hanukkah blessings.

Traditionally all three blessings are recited the first night and only the first two on subsequent nights.

Blessings from About.com.

Reposted from 2008.

THE NAVIGATOR

The scene is sometime in the old era when cockpits had round dials plus flight engineers and navigators. The crusty old-timer captain is breaking in a brand-new navigator.

The captain opens his briefcase, pulls out a .38 pistol and rests it on the glare panel.

He asks the navigator, "Know what this is for?"

"No, sir," replies the newbie.

"I use it on navigators that get us lost," explains the captain, winking at his first officer.

The navigator then opens HIS briefcase, pulls out a .45 and sets it on his chart table.

"What's THAT for?" queries the surprised captain.

"Well, sir," replies the navigator, "I'll know we're lost before you will."

Don't blame me. Blame Paul (A.)

Picture from Props, Pistons, Old Jets.....

IN HONOR OF WORLD AIDS DAY 2010

"Christ of Compassion" icon by Tobias Haller.

No words are necessary. Read the icon.

Tobias says, "I'm pleased to report that one of my icons, "Christ of Compassion" is included in the online Advent exhibition of The Episcopal Church and the Visual Arts, Seeking + Serving."

Tobias blogs at In a Godward Direction.

WORLD AIDS DAY 2010

Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori letter:

Brothers and sisters in Christ,

On the first day of December, people around the world pause to remember World AIDS Day. Christians remember all who live with HIV and AIDS, and all who have died, at the same time we begin the season of Advent. We search for a healer and a hope-giver as we prepare for the coming of the Redeemer. One of the traditional prophetic readings for the season says:

While gentle silence enveloped all things,
and night in its swift course was now half gone,
[God's] all-powerful word leaped from heaven, from the royal throne,
into the midst of the land that was doomed. [Wisdom 18:14-15, NRSV]

The magnificent contrasts of this ancient vision – silence pierced by the Word, doom cast out by new life – seem a fitting frame for reflecting on the challenges and opportunities confronting us on World AIDS Day 2010.

Read the rest at Episcopal News Service.

Archbishop of Canterbury's 2010 World Aids Day Message

Prayer For Persons With HIV/AIDS
By Stephen Helmreich

O Lord Jesus, Healer of our every ill, during your ministry you cured those who suffered from both the disease and the stigma of leprosy. Now we confront the global epidemic of HIV/AIDS. Today, as before, support and heal all people living with the disease, comfort those who have lost friends or lovers, strengthen and encourage families, caregivers and activists in their daily tasks, guide doctors and researchers on their quest, lead politicians and governments to policies of compassion, and enlighten those whose hearts are filled with prejudice, hate, and error. Amen.

Prayer from The Daily Office.

Image from Wikipedia.

PLEASE PRAY FOR MARK

From Mark at Enough About Me:

First thing at work tonight, I found out that, as of midnight, the company we work for is officially done. The bank takes the property at midnight.

After that . . . who knows who will work for whom.
....

Just finished the last audit for the company.

Who knows what tomorrow brings. It seems that we have our jobs at current rate of pay, for now, but no one is sure what the bank or it's yet-to-contact-us management company are going to do.

I'm really scared.

I don't even know where I've got my resume stored! Not that it will matter - they can't fire you for having two government garnishments, but no company has to hire you, either. I have no transportation of my own. The whole thing is - disaster. Can you even get unemployment if the company you worked for no longer exists? If not, then I'm done. I can't "move in" with anyone without it delaying the inevitable.

I realize that nothing is finalized yet. We don't know what is going to happen.

I don't trust fate, nor do I believe hard work pays off. Ask James about hard work and how well he's been rewarded.

If the worst happens, I'll hear, "Well, that place was holding you back. There's a whole world out there. You can grow, achieve more! Be great! Live in a happening place!"

Problem is, I don't want any of that - never really have.

PRAYER FOR GUIDANCE

O God, by whom the meek are guided in judgment, and light rises up in darkness for the godly: Grant us, in all our doubts and uncertainties, the grace to ask what you would have us to do, that the Spirit of wisdom may save us from all false choices, and that in your light we may see light, and in your straight path may not stumble; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(Book of Common Prayer)

FOR ALL THE SNOWBOUND

Newcastle Upon Tyne? MadPriest's house?

"The Snowstorm"
by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Announced by all the trumpets of the sky,
Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields,
Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air
Hides hills and woods, the river, and the heaven,
And veils the farm-house at the garden's end.
The sled and traveller stopped, the courier's feet
Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit
Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed
In a tumultuous privacy of storm.

Come see the north wind's masonry.
Out of an unseen quarry evermore
Furnished with tile, the fierce artificer
Curves his white bastions with projected roof
Round every windward stake, or tree, or door.
Speeding, the myriad-handed, his wild work
So fanciful, so savage, nought cares he
For number or proportion. Mockingly,
On coop or kennel he hangs Parian wreaths;
A swan-like form invests the hidden thorn;
Fills up the farmer's lane from wall to wall,
Maugre the farmer's sighs; and at the gate
A tapering turret overtops the work.
And when his hours are numbered, and the world
Is all his own, retiring, as he were not,
Leaves, when the sun appears, astonished Art
To mimic in slow structures, stone by stone,
Built in an age, the mad wind's night-work,
The frolic architecture of snow.

The snow is pretty to look at when it's fresh and new, but I'd rather see the white stuff in pictures than around here.

The photo doesn't match the poem, because the picture shows the city, but it will do. You get the drift.

H/T to The Writer's Almanac, Nov. 30, 2010.

IT'S A GIRL - AGAIN!

From Episcopal News Service:

The Rt. Rev. Griselda Delgado Del Carpio was installed as bishop of the Episcopal Church of Cuba during a Nov. 28 ceremony at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Havana.

Among those attending the ceremony were Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and Archbishop Fred Hiltz of the Anglican Church of Canada.

Delgado, 55, was consecrated as bishop coadjutor of the Episcopal Church of Cuba on Feb. 7 and has since worked with Bishop Miguel Tamayo of the Anglican Church of Uruguay as he completed his six-year tenure as Cuba's interim bishop. With Tamayo's retirement, Delgado becomes Cuba's diocesan bishop and the first woman to serve in that role.

Blessings and congratulations to Bishop Griselda Delgado del Carpio!

And good on our Bishop Katharine and Archbishop Fred Hiltz of the ACofC for being there. I'll wager that the Presiding Bishop was permitted to wear her mitre.

FEAST OF ST ANDREW THE APOSTLE

St Andrew - Artus WOLFFORT - Private collection

As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him. (Matthew 4:18-20)

According to the Gospel of John, (Jn 1:35-42) Andrew was one of the two first apostles to follow Jesus, and later he brought his brother Simon, who became Peter, to Jesus.

I ask your prayers for my grandson, Andrew, who started in a new school today. Pray that he will adjust and do well. Pray also for his parents, who are a bit anxious, and that the school situation works to the advantage of all. I was not going to ask for prayers for Andrew publicly, but that he starts in the new school on St Andrew's Feast Day seemed a sign that I should. And when I found a painting of St Andrew with a book, it seemed to me a double sign. Below is a photo of Andrew from a good many years ago. He is now 14 years old.




PRAYER

Almighty God, who gave such grace to your apostle Andrew that he readily obeyed the call of your Son Jesus Christ, and brought his brother with him: Give unto us, who are called by your Word, grace to follow him without delay, and to bring those near to us, especially our saint's namesake, Andrew, into his gracious presence; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

This week, Wounded Bird seems to have turned into blog-on-family-week.

Painting from the Web Gallery of Art.