I've decided to retire this blog....

...I just don't keep up with it anymore and I don't think that will change. I am now more into Facebook, which is more convenient  for me as far as posting messages, sharing, etc.  I will keep this blog up for awhile and I'll probably delete it at some point. I thank anyone who has given this a read. Occasionally I get a spammer or a troll who leaves a comment- no thank yous for them.
The KJS Fan Page and Chicks In Pointy Hats will still be up and running. I'm never getting rid of those.
Have a blessed 2011!

Happy Easter

I love Easter. What's not to like?  It's the beginning of warm weather, blooming flowers, of new life. A time to wear pretty colors and eat candy. But besides the nice frills, Easter is a reminder of rebirth, hope and starting anew.
In church,  baptisms often take place at Easter, and those who already baptized renew the Baptismal Covenant. The baptismal vows are a tall order: each indivdual vow asks a lot of us, for instance- it is a daunting task to strive for justice and the diginity of every human being.
Difficult as it may seem, it is still something we should all work on as this is what our faith is supposed to be all about.
I think the bishop of my diocese has explained it nicely in his Easter message:

A Message from Bishop Michel…







April, 2010 – Dear friends of the Risen Lord, Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia! I hope that every reader of this Ministry Memo had a glorious and blessed Easter as we remember that we are the Easter People who live in the hope and promise of resurrection to eternal life. Alleluia!






Tom Ehrich, an Episcopal priest, wrote in a recent issue of “Episcopal Life”, :“I wish more people stood in a typical Episcopal narthex on Sunday and watched the lonely be loved, the stranger be welcomed, the child be heard, and young and old find common good—the radical inclusion that is so necessary in our divided, intolerant and ideology-driven society.” Does your parish church practice radical inclusion? Were your doors open to ALL people for Holy Week and Easter and all hearts and our doors to everyone, and especially to those who still say, “We wish to see Jesus.” We are living in somewhat desperate times with high unemployment, frightening economic crises, wars in America’s streets and on the other side of the world, and the list goes on. Politically, people are getting violent and ideologies running rampant over personalities and human justice issues. At times we seem to have lost our civility and there aren’t too many acts of human kindness being practiced on the streets of our cities or in Washington. So often, when times get bad, people pull together and work for solutions and remedies to a situation; but there are many who think that the only solution is violence and harsh rhetoric and division of the “right” from the “wrong”.






The Church has a message of hope with the story of the Resurrection and we can live out that hope with radical inclusion and hospitality as we remind folks that everyone is welcome, regardless of their opinions, their shortcomings or sinfulness, their color, economic status, sexuality or any of the other boxes that our society would put them in. All are welcome and all will be treated with love and respect and caring when they come to worship and be part of our congregations. But we have to be intentional about that and we may need to remind the People of God that God calls us to open ourselves and our congregations to be places of radical inclusion and outrageous hospitality. The Scriptures are rich with teachings about this and I would pray that during these great 50 days of Eastertide we will all be intentional about welcoming the stranger, the needy, the lonely, the hurting, the comfortable and the comfortless—all of God’s children—to our places of resurrection joy and hope. And then let’s keep on being radically inclusive and hospitable right into the long season after Pentecost and beyond.






God bless us all and keep on saying Alleluia! Christ is Risen! The Lord is risen, indeed. Alleluia!






+Rodney

Beautiful Stranger

It was an honor and a privilege to stay at this place. I love Victorian buildings. I did not see any ghostly things during my stay. I did visit the gift shop that they speak of here. The 1888 Shop is awesome! And I do love this story of this young Victorian woman. Poor gal.

Why We Like Groundhog Day

No...not the movie with Bill Murray.







Feb 2, Groundhog Day is silly- yet it gets national news coverage. Our attention turns to what looks like an oversized rodent that gets yanked out of it's hole. Why oh why do we care?


In short: it's a distraction and it's easy.


We've passed the joyous rushed holiday season and have hit the dead-of-winter doldrums. We endured the cold, long month of January. Aside from New Years Day and MLK Day, nothing much goes on in January except cold weather.


Groundhog Day is easy. It's not like a "real" holiday. You don't take off for it, you don't have to send cards for it or give gifts. There's no real preparation for Groundhog Day. All you have to do is watch TV or listen to radio to hear what the groundhog did.


While I don't doubt that the animal kingdom has it's ways of knowing what kind of weather is coming (consider how birds act just before a storm comes), I don't put much stock in the groundhog's shadow. Still, I found myself repeating to others the news of what the groundhog did today. A mindless predictor of the future- like a Magic 8 Ball. Silly, but fun.


We "asked" the groundhog if winter would be over soon.


The groundhog predicted 6 more weeks of winter. Damn.


I asked my Magic 8 Ball. It says: "Outlook not so good". Double-damn!


Maybe I should go read my horoscope instead.

Stacey's Panic Room: Why I Wear a Sand Dollar Cross

Stacey's Panic Room: Why I Wear a Sand Dollar Cross

Why I Wear a Sand Dollar Cross

I wear my silver "sand dollar cross" (pictured on my profile)  very often. There's a poem attributed to the sand dollar in which the sand dollar symbolizes the star to follow to Christ, and the points of the cross on which he was crucified. The poem is hereSand Dollar Legend Poem. I have my own interpretation of the sand dollar cross. For me, the sand dollar represents the ocean, biology, nature and science.  The cross, of course, represents the Christian faith. Both the sand dollar and cross represent two things I love: 1. the ocean, beach and nature and 2. My faith and church (specifically the Episcopal Church).  For me, the sand dollar also symbolizes science: the beginnings of man and life as organisms from the water, of water and sea life we depend on, and the uniqueness of living creatures. It awes me that all those sand dollars you see for sale in beach town stores are not just knick-knacks: they were all once living things.
The sand dollar and cross put together also says to me that faith and science belong together. They are not adversaries. I wish more could see that. Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori  is a living an example that you can be a person of faith AND science. She was an oceanographer before her ordained life. This is another reason I wear it: I am reminded of her as well when I wear my sand dollar cross.

Epiphany: The Ultimate "A- ha!" Moment

We use this term "Epiphany" to describe the coming of the Magi- the first manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles, or in other terms, it is the Church's celebration of the 3 Kings following the star to the baby Jesus to honor him and to bring him gifts.
The word "epiphany" in our language also means to have a realization: to have a sudden understanding of something. It's a moment when we say or think, "A-ha! There's the answer!", or we say, "I've had an epiphany!" It can happen in the form of something as simple as figuring out directions to that electronic item you just got for Christmas, or it can be a more serious revelation about which way your life is suppose to take. Generally, "a-ha" moments feel very good, confusion dissipates and a sense of satisfaction and excitement settles in. Before these moments though, we can feel lost, uncomfortable or confused and not know where to go or what to do.
There was confusion and unrest before Jesus' birth, and then the birth of the new king gave the world new direction, hope, joy and peace. The Magi knew that they must find him, and figured out what to do and where to go. They knew to follow a star to the great king. What an "a-ha" moment that must have been!
The Magi just did not figure out what to do, but they also brought gifts.
Perhaps we should meditate on "following the star." I don't mean just following Jesus, but following the path that is meant for us. We all have a purpose, a goal and a path we are supposed to take. It may take some of us a awhile to "have an epiphany" and figure out just exactly what that is. Like the Magi, we should travel- no matter how long the road- with our "gifts". I do not mean just physical items like frankenscence and gold. Everyone has a talent that is a gift that should be shared, not just with the king but with all in his kingdom.
We should all have many blessings of "a-ha" moments, no matter how large or small. May these moments show us where to go next, give us peace, joy and make the world a better place.

Anyone else hooked on MSNBC's "Lockup"?

They run mathathons of "Lockup", so I know its not just me watching it! It amazes me that these prisoners can make a weapon, or an instrument out of anything- they are like that show McGyver, haha. If only they put this talent to positive use in the first place, they wouldn't be locked up!

Happy 2010!

Christmas was wonderful. I have been meditative this year, especially during Advent. I had a piece published in Episcopal Life- the newspaper of the national church- about my journey and growth into the Episcopal Church. I was looking back on my journey and decided to write it down, and being published in such a forum was the greatest Christmas gift I can ask for! My priest was very excited about it, I had put St. Luke's "on the map" with it. I admit when I saw the article in print, I could not believe it took up half the page- it was even bigger than the Presiding Bishop's column! I got some written responses in Episcopal Life afterwards- most were poaitive, but one such person said something negative. He said I failed to mention "Jesus", and that was bad. I found his contact info on the web, and asked him directly why he said the things he did. (A bold move, I admit!) At first I was kind of annoyed with him, but we got past that and we actually started a dialogue. I took the cue from our Presiding Bishop who has talked about "finding God in differences" in one of her books and I began to understand the background of this person, and how it shaped his opinion of my piece. We have sharply different views, but I see we are both devout in our faith. May peace be with him and all who I (or we) disagree with!
I did one of the readings in church on Christmas Eve and that was an honor and blessing. It's very special. It is a bit nervewracking too, I get that way in front of the "C and E crowd", I feel like I have to make a good first impression as a representative of my parish. All went well.
November took me again to the PA Dioscean Convention- this time in the vast PA Convention Center. Different events were going on in other parts of the Center and we all shared a common hallway. Apparently there was an arts show and karate competition going on, so in the hall you saw boys in karate outfits, artsy people with purple hair, and people in clerical collars! Quite a sight! The Convention itself went rather well and a positive feel; this was much needed after the past few Conventions that were saturated by the Bishop Bennison scandals- making a very uncomforatble atmosphere. I remember my first Conevntion- I was brand new, and had learned of Bennison's scandal only days before, and people at the Convention said such things, there was anger, such anger. Sex abuse scandals will bring that out. I was exhausted by the end of that Saturday. The next day, I remember bursting into tears in church after my priest's sermon. He was at the convention was quite spent from it too and he expressed that.
But that's all behind us now, there's a new dawn. After a painful period, new hope springs. Presiding Bishop Katharine also reminds me of this
in her books. We are blessed to have Bishop Rodney Michel oversee our Diocese and I can tell he is all about healing, mission and inclusion. Amen!
So this is how 2009 ended for me. There was also a surprise blizzard in between! Now it is January 2010 and I have the "post holiday" funk, I have bills, I have freezing cold weather, I have a ton of tasks facing me at work, I have to really, really get on the stick about excercise and my diet (seriously!), and I have to buckle down and write more, aim to be published more, and write that book/chronicle that I meant to write in 2009 and never did! I have to travel more and see what I've always wanted to see. I will be 41 years old soon. What am I waiting for?
I pray for strength, hope and paece for myself and all my family, friends and church family- and my internet friends too! May 2010 be a blessing!