The Miracle of Abundance

Today's Gospel reading was the loaves and fishes story Matthew - with a little stone soup on the side. Read the whole sermon here.

To read today's lessons, visit the Lectionary Page.

A little Tennyson for peace

In 1850 Alfred, Lord Tennyson became the Poet Laureate of Britain. His short poem Prophecy spoke to me this morning. A small group of us in south Orange Country are working with the Peace Alliance to help create a US Department of Peace and it's good to draw strength from the visionaries who've gone before.

For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see,
Saw the Vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be;
Saw the heavens fill with commerce, argosies of magic sails,
Pilots of purple twilight, dropping down with costly bales;
Heard the heavens fill with shouting, and there rain’d a ghastly dew
From the nations’ airy navies grappling in the central blue;
Far along with world-wide whisper of the south-wind rushing warm,
With the standards of the peoples plunging thro’ the thunder storm;
Till the war-drum throbb’d no longer, and the battle flags were furl’d
In the Parliament of man, the Federation of the world.
There the common sense of most shall hold a fretful realm in awe,
And the kindly earth shall slumber, lapt in universal law.

Isn't it about time?

Bravo Lance!

Vicardoodle salutes Lance Armstrong and his 7th Tour de France victory. Check out the official Tour de France site. For three weeks, Lance and his teammates and other cyclists from around the world have ridden a ring around France. Through two mountain ranges and some of the most beautiful countryside in the world, at an average speed of 41.6 km/hour Lance did it again, and all for a yellow shirt! Bravo to our favorite American in Paris!

The Mighty Mustard Seed

Wild mustard plants grow all over California, giving a glimpse into Jesus' metaphor for the Kingdom of Heaven. Lack of size isn't everything! Read this Sunday's sermon here.

To read this Sunday's lessons from scripture, see the Lectionary Page.

Dog Days at Faith

Max and Katie job-share that church dog gig. Here they are at the Faith picnic. During the week they keep an eye and ear on the place. The UPS man stops by just to give them treats - he da man!

Greetings from the steamy midwest!

Hello to the Faith community and all who come to visit the Vicar of Blogdom (as she is known by those of a smart-aleky bent). After a long, long journey I have made it safely back to the midwest. On the way, I visited a number of amazing national parks in Utah and drive countless miles of twisty two-lane through mountains and deserts and rock formations the like of which my little midwestern mind had never imagined. The picture below is hardly the best example of the natural beauty of that part of the world, but it is the most flattering picture of yours truly, so I'll leave the scenery to your imaginations. This was taken by the side of the state highway that leads into Zion National Park:



My little purple car made a valiant effort, climbing the rocky mountains at speeds approaching 30 mph! Unfortunately, the steamy Missouri air proved to be too much for its tiny ac unit, and I was glad when we finally reached Indianapolis, 4 days and countless cherry-flavored frozen drinks later. Needless to say, I miss the temperate Orange County weather almost as much as I miss my friends at Faith. I hear the choir is doing a bang-up job without me, which my ego refuses to believe - I will have to see for myself during my Christmas visit to CA. I hope everyone keeps in touch via email or snail mail (whichever strikes your fancy - the Vicar can provide both addresses) and sends good wishes my way as I start grad school. See you in a few months, everyone!

Come and be fed

The prophet Isaiah offers an extravagant invitation to come and be fed. The food that satisfies is the love of God. Despite bombs and continuing warfare this week - there are stories of hope and sharing and I'd much rather preach about them. Read this week's sermon here.

The Lectionary Page has this week's readings.

A Giant Sloth reclaimed from the La Brea Tar Pit- his gentle disposition not withstanding, he's still bigger than I'd like to run into! 

Out of the nest and on her way

My daughter, Melanie, left this morning. She's driving across the country to get back to Indiana where she'll begin grad school next month. Mom was very stoic and barely even got teary. It all feels so right - the time we've had together, the Digital Libraries Fellowship she received, the loving send off from the people at Faith Episcopal. They wined and dined us all week. We took some time to enjoy some of the LA things we'd missed. We visited Little Saigon and did the LA tourist thing at the La Brea Tar Pits - an amazing place! Did you know that camels at one time roamed free in Southern California?

Keeping it Simple

This was Melanie's last Sunday at Faith. She leaves next week for Indiana and grad school. The scripture reading for today cooperated and let me preach about her. Jesus said that "these things have been hidden from the wise and revealed to infants." Children are good theologians, they know what's important and they keep it simple. We can learn a lot from them. Read the sermon here.

To read the scripture lessons for today, go to the Lectionary Page.

Dolphins at the Sunset Drumming

We did our regular monthly sunset drumming on Friday the 1st. It was cold and overcast so there wasn't really any sunset. But there was a pod of dolphins just off shore. They played for a long time, much to our delight. I'm glad that someone got the word out to them. Maybe they'll bring some friends next month.