GAYS CONFESSING

 

Yes.

Read David's post at nakedpastor.

SLEEPLESS AND SUNRISE IN THIBODAUX

 

Wondering how today will go with no sleep last night. The picture shows a less than spectacular sunrise, a view I don't often see, for I'm not an early riser.  Since I wasn't sleeping, I got up from bed before sunrise and hoped for a beautiful sight.  Still, it's a good thing the sun rose, yes?

No major problems, just vague digestive distress, enough to keep me awake.  And, of course, when one tosses and turns, the mind tends to race, which is not conducive to sleep.  A vicious cycle.  I don't often have insomnia.  Sometimes I don't get enough hours of sleep, but hardly ever no sleep at all.  I should be counting my blessings, yes?

Y'all have a good day.

UPDATE: I slept well last night.

ELEPHANT REVIVAL - "ANCIENT SEA"

Listening to the music of Elephant Revival always makes me smile. All the musicians in the group are so very talented.

WATCHED "THE LIFE OF PI" - FINALLY

Last night, after first receiving a damaged DVD of "The Life of Pi" from Netflix which was unplayable and had to be sent back (frustrating, indeed!), I finally watched and thoroughly enjoyed the film on a replacement DVD.  I cancelled my membership to Netflix's mailing program because this is the second time I've received a damaged DVD. I joined the streaming program, and I'll watch movies online and see how that works.  I gather that Netflix would like to be rid of the mailing program, thus, I assume, the reason for the missing quality control.  

Though I prefer to watch movies on TV, and there is apparently a way to connect to a television set, both our TVs are old, and I doubt they are equipped to make the connection. The other night, I watched an episode of a TV series on my computer, and it was fine, as I have a sizable screen.  I could watch on my laptop in a more comfortable chair, but the sound system is poor. For the next viewing, I'll carry in a footstool from another room in the house, which will give me more comfort watching on my computer.

About the movie, "The Life of Pi" won four major Academy Awards: Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, and Best Score, all well-deserved.  The story is enchanting, and the combination of visual beauty and splendid music made for wonderfully fulfilling sensuous experience.  I'm surprised none of the actors won the top award, for nearly all were excellent in their roles.  The performance of Tabu, in her role as Pi's mother, was especially beautiful.  The only actor who was not believable to me was Rafe Spall, who played the novelist, Yann Martel, to whom Pi tells his story. Of course, in a sense, the selection for Best Director Award acknowledges indirectly the excellence of the performances.  I award the movie five stars, my top score.

ROSARIES BLESSED BY THE POPE AND OTHER ODDS AND ENDS

Roman Catholic rosary

This morning Grandpère told me that he regretted he had not gone with me to Rome on one of my two visits to the city.  I'd love to have had him along, but he chose not to go.  What can I say?  Regrets, regrets - they will not get you there.

At the time of my second visit to Rome on a study tour, I was already in the Episcopal Church, but, as we were scheduled to attend a general audience with Pope John Paul II, several Roman Catholic friends asked me to have rosaries blessed by the pope.  I agreed, but when the time came for the audience, I realized that none of my friends had given me rosaries, and I would have to provide them.  Hmm...  Did my friends think the pope tossed them out like Mardi Gras beads?

The facade of Santa Brigida on Piazza Farnese.

During the visit, our group, which was engaged in a study of a particular aspect of the history of the Vatican which I've now forgotten, stayed at the Convent of St Bridgit of Sweden on the Piazza Farnese, a lovely place.  The single rooms were sparsely furnished with simple but lovely antique furniture - all that we needed, but no excess.

One of the conditions for staying at the convent was that we had to take breakfast and luncheon meals in the dining room, which was no great sacrifice as the food was very good.  For the evening meal, we were allowed out.  We had a key to the main door of the convent, but the key and the lock were old, and one evening we were quite late and could not get the key to work, so we had to ring the bell.  I'm certain the nun who came to let us in was awakened from her sleep, and we felt like wayward adolescents who'd stayed out past curfew.

None of the sisters spoke English, and only one spoke Italian, so communication was a challenge, but we managed with one of the leaders of the study group, who spoke fluent Italian, doing most of the talking.  I even managed with hand gestures and pointing as the day for the audience with the pope arrived, and I needed rosaries.  The sisters came to the rescue, for they made rosaries and sold them in their tiny shop for a very reasonable price, so I bought the five or six rosaries for my friends there and dutifully remained after the audience to have the rosaries blessed.

St Bridget - Salem church, Södermanland, Sweden

The study tour in Rome was one of high points of all my years of travel, obviously not so much for what I learned, but for the places we visited, which included an after-hours tour of the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel.  I had visited both places before, but, during the private visit, I saw the gorgeous mosaic tile floor in the chapel for the first time.  In the previous visit, the chapel was crowded with tourists packed in wall-to-wall, and I could see very little of the floor.

Well, as Woody Guthrie said, I roamed, and I rambled, and I followed my footsteps, but not to this land of yours and mine, but rather to Rome.  As you see, I did not  make a long story short.  I could go on, but, I won't.   

Images from Wikipedia here, here, and here.

ALAS...

To Kill a Mockingbird is a lovely book. I met Harper Lee, the author, when she gave a lecture at our library around the time the book was published.

EMPLOYEES AS "COSTS"

Not perfect, but good enough

From Business Insider:

The real problem is that American corporations, which are richer and more profitable than they have ever been in history, have become so obsessed with "maximizing short-term profits" that they are no longer investing in their future, their people, and the country.

This short-term corporate greed can be seen in many aspects of corporate behavior, from scrimping on investment spending to obsessing about quarterly earnings to fretting about daily fluctuations in stock prices. But it is most visible in the general attitude toward average employees.

Employees are human beings. They are people who devote their lives to creating value for customers, shareholders, and colleagues.  And, in return, at least in theory, they share in the rewards of the value created by their team.

In theory.

In practice, American business culture has become so obsessed with maximizing short-term profits that employees aren't regarded as people who are members of a team. 
Rather, they are regarded as "costs."

Employees are seen not as valuable assets but rather as "costs" which must be reduced as much as possible to increase profits for the corporations which are already earning record profits and pay huge salaries and bonuses to further line the pockets of top employees who are already rich.  And, as a general policy, if the company has a bad year, the employees take the hit with layoffs, reduced benefits, and frozen wages, and - tah dah! - those at the top get bonuses.

Short term profits and daily stock prices take precedence over sharing with employees the results of their labors.  Think of it: Human beings who spend the better part of their lives building and keeping corporations running are considered liabilities rather than assets.  Greater and greater numbers of those who once considered themselves middle class are sliding into poverty.

Four out of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream.

As more and more of the wealth of the US shifts to the haves, will the time ever come when the numbers of people who can purchase the goods and services of the corporations fall to such a low point that the profits of the corporations diminish, and the bubble pops?  People with lower incomes must spend their money on every day subsistence, but the wealthy are able to invest and hoard their wealth. 

As Amie Bush said on Facebook, "People are costs and corporations are people.  It's a crazy-messed-up world we are a'livin' in people!   I mean folks!   Uh, I mean costs!"

MALE LOGIC AT ITS BEST

Woman: Do you drink beer?
Man: Yes

Woman: How many beers a day?
Man: Usually about 3

Woman: How much do you pay per beer?
Man: $5.00 which includes a tip

Woman: And how long have you been drinking?
Man: About 20 years, I suppose

Woman: So a beer costs $5 and you have 3 beers a day which puts your spending each month at $450. In one year, it would be approximately $5400 …correct?
Man: Correct

Woman: If in 1 year you spend $5400, not accounting for inflation, the past 20 years puts your spending at $108,000, correct?
Man: Correct

Woman: Do you know that if you didn’t drink so much beer, that money could have been put in a step-up interest savings account and after accounting for compound interest for the past 20 years, you could have now bought a Ferrari?
Man: Do you drink beer?

Woman: No
Man: Where’s your Ferrari?

(Doug strikes again.)

OUR PRIEST SEARCH CONTINUES AT ST JOHN'S AND TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCHES

A Note From Senior Warden Allen Alexander of St John's

Like many of my fellow parishioners at St. John’s, I did not begin attending an Episcopal church until I was well into adulthood. I’ve often been asked why LaDonna and I (and subsequently our daughters) first came to St. John’s and then continued coming. There is not a simple answer, but one key element was the warmth of the people, who welcomed us as if they were greeting long-absent family. I still see the glow of that warmth whenever we gather, for Sunday services, Christian education, choir practice, work days, and our many ongoing outreach ministries. Another factor that attracted us was the liturgy of the services. Growing up Baptist, we had rarely experienced or understood the traditional liturgies that are prominent throughout much of the Christian world, but as we worked our way into adulthood and took on the role of nomads (because one of us stubbornly refused to quit going to graduate school), we on occasion attended churches with different liturgical traditions—Methodist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Episcopal—and began to understand that there was value in the ritual, the practice, and the reflection that these traditions cultivate. So when we came to St. John’s, the liturgy of the Holy Eucharist was a powerful reminder to us of how much we had come to value those traditions that brought us together in prayer, song, and worship.

Another thing that I noticed early on as we began to attend church at St. John’s was how involved lay people were in the conducting of the services—as lay Eucharistic ministers, lectors, leaders of prayer, ushers, altar guild members, greeters, and counters. My first somewhat cynical thought was, “That’s a smart way to ensure that people come to church.” But upon further more mature reflection, I came to see that involving so many lay people in the services was emblematic of an important component of church—people coming together to pray, sing, and worship. And that thought brings me back to my earlier point about part of the draw of St. John’s being the warmth and openness of the people, welcoming all of us into a new and renewing family.

As we continue to live through this interim period and work toward the calling of a full-time rector, we have the opportunity to come together for both the celebration of the Holy Eucharist and for Morning Prayer. We are thankful for the supply priests who will be visiting with us to celebrate the Holy Eucharist, and especially thankful for Fr. Jerry Rogers, who has served as our celebrant when he has been able. And we are also thankful for the lay people—Fred Sollars, Julie Green, Gloria Hunter, and Mary Katherine Blackburn—who have stepped forward to serve as officiants for Morning Prayer. This has been a learning experience for all of us, and another testament to how we come together as a church family, finding new ways, and re-discovering old ways, to move forward.

PRAYER FOR A RECTOR FOR ST JOHN'S AND TRINITY
 

Dear Lord, we ask your help in guiding and directing St John's and Trinity in our search for a new rector. Where there are differences, help mold us into one heart and one mind, being ever mindful of the needs of each other. Where doubts and uncertainties may arise, grant us faith and courage to ask what you would have us do. And finally Lord, give us the spirit of your wisdom to find someone who will adopt our families as part of their family, and strengthen us as faithful ministers to do your will. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Thanks to Allen for permission to post his note in St John's Newsletter.

FROM THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE

June,

There are less than 24 hours left until our next big fundraising deadline.

We need your help. These last hours are critical to help us achieve our fiscal goals for the summer.

Even small donations make a huge difference—last month 98% of the money we raised was from donations of $200 or less!
Contribute $25, $50, $100, or whatever you can today and help us finish July strong!

Help me out here. How much should I contribute?