A Positively Poetic Priest

Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 13 BCP 232) We long for safety. Its right there near the base of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, right after food, water, clothing, and shelter. We want personal security and safety. Without feelings of safety, we have a hard time progressing towards fulfilling our social, emotional, and mental needs. The same goes for the church as an organization, at the local, regional, and national levels. Some organizational business models have used Maslow's hierarchy to help people understand the needs of organizations and communities. In all of the models, safety is always near the beginning of the chart. In today's world, safety is a loose thing. Sometimes we feel safe, even though we are in ...

O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 12 BCP 231) "I saw Eternity the other night, Like a great ring of pure and endless light, All calm, as it was bright; And round beneath it, Time in hours, days, years, Driv’n by the spheres Like a vast shadow mov’d; in which the world And all her train were hurl’d." "The World" by Henry Vaughan, a Welsh poet from the 1600's. Henry Vaughan was part of the Church of England, despite the Church being illegal at the time, and wrote many religious poems. Many of his poems talk about the difference between God's kingdom and the world, the difference between our linear time and eternity, the dif...

Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom, you know our necessities before we ask and our ignorance in asking: Have compassion on our weakness, and mercifully give us those things which for our unworthiness we dare not, and for our blindness we cannot ask; through the worthiness of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Proper 11 BCP 231) From the point of view of a child, parents actions can be so confusing. Parents don't seem happy most of the time. They make children eat their veggies and do homework and chores and they seem to often be doing things they don't want to do. I remember as a child thinking that this was strange. I was told that you could do what you wanted when you were an adult, but none of the adults around me seemed to be doing what they wanted most of the time.  These days, I feel I have the same relationship with God much of the time. As a child asks a parent for cookies and receiv...

From Johnny Appleseed, "Oh, and every seed I sow, Will grow into a tree. And someday there'll be apples there, For everyone in the world to share. Oh, the Lord is good to me, Oh, the Lord is good to me, And so I thank the Lord, For giving me the things I need; The sun and the rain and the apple seed. The Lord is good to me." Franklin lies on the wandering path of the American legend Johnny Appleseed, otherwise known as John Chapman, born in Massachusetts in the late 1700's. He kept journals as he walked across Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, and Illinois. He planted apple cider orchards (not the juicy apples we normally eat). But the apple cider was helpful for the settlers who followed him later in order to have something to drink instead of unsanitary water. Even during his lifetime, legends began to spring up about this interesting and pioneering man. In every regard, Johnny Appleseed was a carefree and generous sower. He planted in places where there w...

O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbor: Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 9 BCP 230) This past Wednesday evening we started the joint NWPA and WNY Digital Camp program with the youth of both dioceses. Our theme this year is Unity. Being the first year we are in partnership together and the first time we are doing things with the youth of both dioceses, we thought the theme of "Unity" would be appropriate.  I have been pondering the idea of unity for some time now. Not only is unity a good theme for our Camp youth, but in light of the racial tensions going on, the on-going pandemic, and the juxtaposition of the celebration of the 1776 Declaration of Independence from the British as a unity of states in Am...