20 June 2020 - Plague Journal Day 100

Micah 6:8
Matthew 18:19-20

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

This is an exciting day. We're getting ready to worship together irl, and to live-stream the service over YouTube!
OK, we spent about three hours preparing on Tuesday, then another three hours today. It looks like it will work, but this simple technology is complicated. That's probably a bit unfair. The most complicated part is the sound system - and that's because we're cobbling it together from various bits we have for totally other purposes. Still, it's looking good. Worship and Communion, here we come!

SDG

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.

19 June 2020 - Plague Journal Day 99

Micah 6:8

Ephesians 5:15-21

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

I've heard it said that sauntering cannot be done with a particular destination in mind. I'm not sure that's really correct, but it's an interesting picture, and today is World Sauntering Day!
Not exactly aimless wandering (or is it?), sauntering is very much opposed to anything purposeful and speedy - perhaps this is just what our Mad*4 World needs today.

When you're done with your saunter, it's also Martini Day, so why not shake or stir one up? (It's your choice; don't let Ian Fleming influence you!)

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.

18 June 2020 - Plague Journal Day 98

Micah 6:8


Matthew 4:18-21

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

So here's some interesting information: today is International Picnic Day and International Panic Day. How might one commingle the twain?
Well, it's also International Sushi Day, so how about serving sushi at your picnic? In many parts of the world, that might just do it.

You know, I've heard folks of the aggressively unsophisticated persuasion aver that to them, sushi is what they usually call bait. Anent that sentiment, today is also Go Fishing Day. Perfection.


Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.

17 June 2020 - Plague Journal Day 97

Micah 6:8
Romans 12:1-2
We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

In an odd, strange, perhaps even perverse arrangement, yesterday was Fresh Veggies Day, while today is National Eat Your Vegetables Day.
What are we supposed to eat today? Stale vegetables? Rotten vegetables? Past-their-expiration-date vegetables? What's the deal?

grr.

Well, regardless of the state of your veggies, please eat a balanced and healthy diet every day.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.

16 June 2020 - Plague Journal Day 96

Micah 6:8
1 Corinthians 13:12
We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

As one of my friends has said, it's easy to hate when hate is in your heart. I think he's right.
It's also easier to hate when you're hating "them," not a specific person whom you know, "them." If we put a name to a person, if we see him or her as an individual, not as just part of a group, suddenly they're human, they're real, and we can't hate as easily.
Here's a piece I wrote a long time ago about putting a face to the name:

Have you ever seen a picture of a radio personality and discovered that he really doesn’t “look like his voice” – or at least not the way you’d imagined him? I know I have.

In the same vein, I remember a coworker I had in our New York office. I had worked with her for a few years, always by phone, before she had any reason to visit Detroit. When she did, I was surprised to find that she didn’t look the way I expected at all.

Despite those surprises, I always find it’s helpful to put a face with a name, or with a voice. When I can picture the person on the other end of the phone call – or at the keyboard sending email – I have a much easier time dealing with him as a person, rather than as a job title or a resource.

I think that’s one of the great things God did in sending Jesus to us.

Before that, we had the writings of Moses and David and the prophets. They had heard God’s voice, somehow, and they told us what He said, and what He was like.

Then, suddenly, right there among us, was Jesus – God in human form. At last we could put a face to the Name, we knew Who it was when we heard His voice.

I know we don’t have a photograph of Jesus – we don’t know exactly what he looked like (pace Rembrandt’s exhibit at the DIA), but we do know enough:
We know He looked like us, we know we were created to look like Him, and we know that one day we’ll see Him face to face.

What Joy!

Thought for the Day:
May the Lord bless you and keep you;
May the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you;
May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace. Amen

Yes, He looked like us. We look like Him. All of us. Don't forget that.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.

Update:
I had forgotten that today is Bloomsday.  If you're not in Ireland for the celebration (and nearly all of us are not in Ireland), then your best bet is to pull out your copy of Ulysses and read it today. It only covers about 24 hours, so give it a go!

15 June 2020 - Plague Journal Day 95

Micah 6:8
We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?


Today is National Electricity Day. As everyone who went to an American public school knows, electricity was invented by Benjamin Franklin in the mid 1700s (confusingly called the 18th century - what's up with that?). It was later stolen by Thomas Alva "Jerky McJerk Face" Edison and then fixed by Nikola "don't call me Nicky" Tesla, who later invented the steam-powered automobile.
The final perfector of electricity was the Electrifying Mojo. Since then there have been no significant changes to electricity - it just flows and sparks the same way it has since Franklin's day. We can be very thankful for that.
The big question about electricity is, where did all the other countries get theirs? Did they steal it from America? Sure, the UK owned the colonies at the time, so they get a free pass since they didn't put stamps on electrons they way they did with tea bags, but what about everyone else? This is something that really should be investigated.


Today is also National Lobster Day. That reminds me of a vacation we took (remember those? people would go places other than work and home and the grocery store? Magical!) several years ago to Maine. We had a map of Mt. Desert Island and had chosen a local lobster restaurant as our evening dinner destination. Imagine, if you will, our consternation at finding ourselves back where we had started - in Bar Harbor - before we had seen anywhere to turn to get to the restaurant (perhaps better called a Lobster Shack). Well, we gave it another go ... and another ... and another. Eventually, tempers flared, words were spoken, and the map was closely examined. We were surprised, not to say nonplussed, to discover that the scale of the map meant we were supposed to have turned left off the main road almost immediately - the map was set at something like an inch to the half mile!
At last we found the road, reached our goal, and enjoyed a delicious lobster dinner. To this day, however, the name of Bar Harbor gives us the willies, and evinces, in the most authentic Down East accent imaginable, "you can't get there from here."
Magical.


Finally, today is also Justice for Janitors Day. As an erstwhile school janitor myself, I think janitors deserve more than justice - mercy is a better choice. Really, I did enjoy my time as a janitor, and didn't feel slighted there any more than anywhere else I've ever worked; perhaps less, in fact.


Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.

14 June 2020 - Plague Journal Day 94

We all are still sheltering in place, but I'm here to keep you sane and entertained.
One could hardly ask for much more than that, now could one?

Today, we have another double shot of celebration.
Here in these United States of America, it is Flag Day. By a wonderful, annual coincidence, it is also National Bourbon Day.

How to celebrate? Well, make sure you have an American flag flying - even if only in your heart. Then grab a nice glass of bourbon (I prefer mine neat, thank you very much), and let's give a toast to the flag!

Beyond those festivities, we have to acknowledge all that is going on in our nation and in the world. For all of that, once again, here is one of the prayers in the back of the Methodist Hymnal (the 1964/66 one).

#746 - FOR CHURCH, LAND, AND WORLD
Remember, O Lord, thy Church upon Earth; deepen her influence and extend her power for good, till the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ.
We pray for our beloved land: for our leaders and governors, and for all who have part in public service. Make them pure in motive, wise in counsel, and strong in action, doing right in the fear of thy holy name.
Father in Heaven, look down in mercy upon our distraught and fevered world: forgive the mistaken ambitions, the selfish passions, and the presumptuous claims of men; remove all suspicion and bitterness from among the nations, and bring them to peace and concord by the redeeming love of Christ.
Have mercy, O Lord, upon those who are passing through sore trial: the poor, the sick, the anxious, the oppressed, those who are in danger from the fury of the elements or from the violence of men. Inspire in us and in our fellow men the will to help our suffering brethren. Heal, protect, and strengthen them according to their need. Comfort those in sorrow with the comfort which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We pray for our own dear ones, wheresoever they are, that, surrounded by thy love, they may be kept in health and joy, and abide in safety and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Keep Calm and Stay Away.
I'll be back tomorrow.