Not Good

My car is smoking. I started it this morning (or at least tried to). It made funny sounds and almost got going. I turned it off, looked in the rear-view mirror, and there was the cloud.

Shit.

I guess I'm not going into work today. Unfortunately, I don't know where to take it here in Belvidere. I'll have to wait till Ang gets back. Then she can take me to wherever it is that I need to go.

Hopefully, whoever is going to fix it can do it soon, because I have to move my stuff up here. Finances are limited, so it better not cost too much.

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Natural Disasters and God

Downtown New Orleans, 30 Aug 2005
“Why?”

One minute the world seems to make sense, and then something terrible happens. This time it is Hurricane Katrina. When the power of nature rises up and brings such destruction, we humans (yes, we who have conquered the skies and landed on the moon) find that we are powerless to stop it. We who were once masters of our world, suddenly find ourselves feeling very tiny and vulnerable. Our world has not only lost the meaning it once had, but has become dangerous as well.

“Why?”

Some people believe that when natural disasters strike, they do so because somehow they are the will of God. While the disasters bring death and destruction, they are seen as divine tools to fashion a greater good. So, in the end, it all balances out, with a little more weight landing on the “good” that comes out of the disaster. There is a sense that somehow, it was all “worth it.”

I am not one of those who believes that.

I do not believe that natural disasters are God’s tools for bringing about the death and destruction necessary for a greater good. I do not pretend to know “why” natural disasters happen. But regardless of what I or anyone else believes about the “why” of natural disasters, they happen nonetheless.

God is love. That’s what I believe. That influences how I see such things in the world. It also influences how I respond to the world around me.

God is love. It is a central Christian emphasis. It is what we’re called to proclaim. But, surrounded by the howl of tsunamis and hurricanes, our voice is often drowned out and we feel stifled. How can we be heard? How can we declare that the God who is love is not silent, but still speaking?

St. Francis of Assisi once said, “Proclaim the Gospel, and, if necessary, use words.”

To all who suffer, to all who mourn, to all who weep in the meaninglessness of it all, to all who will listen, we declare God is Love.

I have snagged the following news article from the UCC website. It is important to know how at least one church is declaring God’s love in the darkness, as well as a few ways that we can do our part.

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“UCC begins disaster response to Hurricane Katrina”
Aug. 29, 2005

Hurricane Katrina, a Category 4 hurricane, stormed ashore the U.S. Gulf Coast this morning with extraordinarily strong winds and heavy rains. Extensive wind damage and flooding is anticipated along the projected track of the storm from the Gulf Coast to the Ohio River Valley. Katrina crossed southern Florida on Friday resulting in 9 deaths and extensive flooding.

One Great Hour of Sharing is rushing $25,000 to Church World Service for the initial response to Hurricane Katrina.

"At this point we pray and wait. We are grateful to have One Great Hour of Sharing offering funds and UCC Disaster Network in place so we are able to respond as soon as it becomes safe to do so," said Susan Sanders, Minister for Global Sharing of Resources.

UCC National Disaster Ministries' staff have been in contact with Conference Disaster Coordinators, Alan Coe from South Central Conference; Will Rabert from Southeast Conference; Bill Wealand from Florida Conference and Shari Prestemon, Executive Director of Back Bay Mission, Biloxi, Mississippi to express concern and offer One Great Hour of Sharing financial support for clean up and recovery in aftermath of this storm. Contact has not yet been made with staff of Dillard University in New Orleans.

Back Bay Mission staff have evacuated to safety away from the coast and will return to Biloxi as soon as it is safe to do so.

Will Rabert and Alan Coe are prepared to travel to the disaster area as soon as possible to provide assistance to UCC congregations, institutions and local communities as they assess recovery needs.

Church World Service Disaster Response and Recovery Liaisons are on call to work with local agencies to organize and to address the unmet needs of those affected by Hurricane Katrina.

How you can help:

1. Pray for people who live in communities affected by hurricanes.

2. To help those affected by disasters you may send gifts payable to your congregation marked for "Emergency USA " with the request they be sent through your Conference office on to Wider Church Ministries.

OR

3. Send gifts payable to Wider Church Ministries and marked in the memo portion "Emergency USA" to the Office for Global Sharing of Resources; Wider Church Ministries; 700 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115.

OR

4. Make a secure on-line donation now by clicking on the Emergency USA button on [the UCC homepage].

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For All the Cubs Fans Out There

While cleaning and packing, I rediscovered a book by Robert J. Morgan entitled Real Stories for the Soul. Please note that this is in no way a plug for this book; it's terrible. Generally speaking it's shallow and the veracity of the stories is questionable. But, there is this really cool one that I would like to share (most of it anyway).

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The 1908 World Series (p 135-36)

The 1908 National League season saw a fierce struggle between the Chicago Cubs and the New York Giants. When they met with thet Pennant on the line, there was a last minute change in the Giant lineup. The Giant's first basemen had a sprained back, and substituting for him was an eager nineteen-year-old named Fred Merkle who was thought to be a rising star in baseball.

The game was tied, adn in the bottom of the ninth, the Giants were at bat. There were two outs, and two men on base. The winning run was on third, and Fred Merkle was on first. The batter hit a single, and the runner on third lumbered home. The Giants had apparently won the game and the pennant. Jubilant Giant fans poured onto the field while Fred Merkle was still on his way to second. Alarmed by the crowd suddenly bearing down on him and convinced the game was over, he ran straight for the clubhouse.

He didn't go all teh way to second base. The Chicago second baseman noticed the [sic.] Merkle hadn't bothered to touch second. If he could get the ball and touch second himself, the winning run would be cancelled by the force-out. First, he had to find the ball.

One of the New York coaches saw what was happening, and he ran for the ball and threw it into the stands. A fan in a brown bowler caught it and started home with his trophy. Two Cubs players chased the man through the mob and tried to take the ball away from him. When he resisted, they knocked him down, grabbed the ball, ran back to the field, and threw it to their second baseman, who, holding the ball, jumped up and down on the bag to make sure the umpire saw what he had done.

As a result, New Yorkd lost the game--and the Pennant--and although Fred Merkle stuck it out for fourteen more years in baseball, he never got over the reputation of being the man responsible for what is still to this day called "Merkle's Boner."

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For all those Cardinal fans out there, it has to make us wonder, did they really win that year? Hmmm. Do ya think we should we tell 'em?

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Long Day

My first day alone on the job. I already have sooo much to do. Of course, since it is only the begining of my solo week, I don't really know if it is a lot or a little. I'll have to see how much I get through by Thurs.

Didn't leave the office till 7pm. That's okay though, I really enjoyed today. Something I really like about the pastor position is the diversity of things to do. I could have left earlier if I wanted, but I chose to stay. Yeah, I know, it's odd. But I like what I do that much.

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Big Day

Tomorrow (Sunday) will be a big day. I'll be in worship for the first time at my new church. Then, after the service, there is a picnic. What are the odds of me getting lost on the way there?

Hopefully, I will be looking at a house tomorrow afternoon. Unfortunatly, due to this I will not be able to make it to the Gorilla Art Thing (which will meet outside the Octane from 1ish to 5ish). Sorry all, but I need to find a roof. It makes living a lot easier when you have one, ya know.

I'm not quite sure how much I'll be in and out of my appt in Spring Valley this coming week. It depends on how soon I can find a place up here. So, for all those calling my home phone, you might not hear back from me for a while. E-mail will work much better till I get settled.

Time for beddy-bye. After all, I have a job to get to in the morning. (Hooray)

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First Week

So far, not a bad first week. I started Monday, and while there have been some interesting twists, nothing disasterous has happened. I've been really busy, so I haven't had a chance to contact Tim or anybody else (imagine links here to various MySpace pages that I don't have the addresses to right off hand) and say "hi." I'll have to give everybody a tour. The outside of the building is like a castle, and there's this awesome tower. I made sure to go up there on the first day.

I'm off on Fri and Sat, so I'll be hitting the housing ads pretty hard. I've settled on getting a small house. It's a lot more expensive, but I've been living out of boxes for the last 6 yrs and really need to feel spread out. The rental cost difference between Belvidere and Rockford is amazing! I figure living in Belvidere would increase my drive time from about 15 mins to 1/2 hr, but even with the cost of gas it might be well worth it.

The last couple of nights I've spent with my friends Eric and Ang and their kids. Tonight, I took the kids (ages 6 and 4) shopping for the stuff to make chili dogs. We had a lot of fun.

The current Associate Pastor's last day for the church is Sunday. After that, I will be the only pastor there for a week until the Senior Pastor returns from the mission trip to Angola. This could make for a very interesting second week on the job.

As I sit here, I'm working on Eric's computer. I'm jealous of his really cool cordless mouse that is overly-decorated with fully functional and useful buttons. I must get one of these things. Also, I forgot how awesome ergonomic keyboards were. Now, I can't remember why mine isn't hooked up to my computer. Was it because I needed an adapter? Maybe limited desk space? I'll have to check when I get home.

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The Word is In

I've got the position! I will be the New Interim Associate Pastor at Second Congregational. From what I understand, I will be filling some really big shoes, so it's a bit intimidating. I received notice yesterday and will start tomorrow. The plan is to be in the Rockford area early and begin looking for appts. Then, I will meet the current Associate Pastor in the afternoon.

Employment: here I come!

Elsewhere in life...

This weekend I went to see Christina. It was good to get away and relax. Since her 9-yr old son wasn't there, we talked about painting his bathroom as a surprise. The theme would be "pirates." On wall #1: a skeleton with a pirate hat by a palm tree on a desert isle (I would point out at this point that skeletons are hard for me to do). On wall #2: a pirate ship on the ocean. On wall #3: a treasure chest peeking out from behind the toilet (part of the fun for this one would be seeing how long it took him to notice it was there). After a bit of planning, we decided that it might take too long to get it all together. We didn't want to take any chances on me having to leave before it was done. So, we decided to put it off until later. (I still really want to do it, though.)

We also went to Alladin's Castle in the mall. I haven't been in one of those in years. She beat me in air hockey, and for the record I didn't let her win. Also for the record, she only won by one point so I intend to get a rematch.

And, we watched The Bourne Identity. Great movie, but was it ever hard to stay awake. I was exhausted! A long day plus a really big meal at the Olive Garden (compliments of her dad, who gave us cash to go celebrate my new job...thank you!!) about put me to sleep half way through.

The big finale: We bought a lottery ticket. It better hit big, because we have already figured out how we are going to split our respective halves.

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For Those Who Didn't Already Know This...

...the only thing worse than moving is moving when you don't know whether you're actually moving. Boxes, boxes everywhere.

Tonight, I'm trying to get the group up to go to the labyrinth. So far, it has rained every time we've tried. Today, it looks dark, but if it isn't too bad, I'm still going (I don't know about the rest of 'em).

Aegis Studios is putting out their Contagion Anthology soon enough. The release should be around Halloween. I have a written piece in there. Come to think of it, I need to finish a pic for it. Shh...don't tell Travis I've been procrastinating.

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Still Waiting

The word is that the results on the interview are still "inconclusive." It has been a bit of a strange drama thusfar, but I hope to hear something back in the next couple of days. But, the job still starts on Monday, so my appt is a wreck as it is filled with boxes.

Ugh!

Meanwhile, If I don't hear something by mid-afternoon, I'll be setting up another interview elsewhere. If the Rockford possibility doesn't come through, here's hoping that this new one will move quickly.

Yes, the employment roller coaster takes yet another sharp turn.

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Stomach...Churning...

Okay, I'm nervous now. Oddly enough, when I went into the first meeting regarding this new call opportunity, I was barely nervous. Now, it's hitting pretty hard.

I went to Open Prarie NCD (UCC) in Princeton today for worship. Oddly enough, I've been there three times and have yet to hear the pastors preach. I hear they're awesome, but every day I've been there they've had a guest preacher.

Today, that was a real blessing. The college student (I believe her name is Dawn, but I forgot to bring home a bulletin) who preached gave a kick-ass sermon. I talked with her afterward about recording it and putting it on my Eclectic Podcasting Mass. I hope she decides to do that. I'd love to host it for her. It's her story, which is something that I think more people should hear.

Come to think of it, I should probably ask Open Prarie's pastors, Curran and Katie, if they would like me to host their sermons.

Well, I'm off to the big meeting.

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The News

Tonight, the church called me regarding their open position and offered me the job. I very quickly said "yes," of course. The start date: Aug. 15th. That's pretty quick. Now, I have to find an appt that will rent month to month. The hiring is not yet official. The committee that presented the call to me is not the group that hires. I have to go before their Provincial Council for that. We will meet Sunday evening. But still, this is all quite the relief. Woo hooo!

MissionBound dropped in last night and left today. She had training in Chicago. Sounds like it was exhausting. It was good to see her again. Lots to catch up on. Way too much fun.

I cooked meat pie for us for lunch. The receipe:

~1 lb gr. beef
~1 standard can condensed tomato sauce
~1 standard can gr. beans
~1 sm. can mushrooms
~1 sm. can corn
~salt and pepper
~4 cheese instant potatoes
~1 egg
~shredded cheese

Cook beef, add tomato sauce, add beans and corn. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Make mashed potatoes. When done, stir in egg (beaten), which will help the potatoes to keep their shape in the over.

Put meat, etc., into cassarole dish, and cover the meat with the potatoes. Then sprinkle cheese over the top.

Put in over (375) for about 40 minutes, until done (the cheese will start to brown slightly). Pull out carefully. It will be very, very hot for a long time.

Yum!

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