Povey Prattle

So, I was at the ACE hardware store yesterday. I picked up what I needed (noxious weed killer), and wandered back towards the check-out. The good Clerk at the-check out asked “Can I help you to find something sir?” “No”, I replied “I’ve found it”, showing her the spray bottle of weed killer. Then came my tongue in cheek afterthought. “Maybe you could help me to find the meaning of life”. The customer ahead of me said “it’s all in the Bible”. I grimaced inwardly, but said nothing. After all, I was in a hardware store. But as I drove home I remembered the song we sang in my fundamentalist Sunday School. “The best book to read is the Bible The best book to read is the Bible If you read it every day, it will help you on your way Oh, the best book to read is the Bible” I wondered about this as I drove home. I came to the conclusion that the Bible is a very dangerous book. It sanctions and encourages what we would call “ethnic cleansing” (see below). It says that rape is appropr...

Amusing Signs Sign in a London department store: Bargain basement upstairs. In an office: Would the person who took the step ladder yesterday please bring it back or further steps will be taken. In an office: After tea break, staff should empty the teapot and stand upside down on the draining board. Outside a second-hand shop: We exchange anything--bicycles, washing machines, etc. Why not bring your wife along and get a wonderful bargain. Sign outside a new town hall to be opened by the Prince of Wales: The town hall is closed until opening. It will remain closed after being opened. Open tomorrow. Outside a photographer's studio: Out to lunch: if not back by five, out for dinner also. Seen at the side of a Sussex road: Slow cattle crossing, no overtaking for the next 100 yrs. Outside a disco: Smart is the most exclusive disco in town, everyone welcome. Sign warning of qu...

The Wisdom of Larry The Cable Guy . . 1. A day without sunshine is like night. 2. On the other hand, you have different fingers. 3. 42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot. 4. 99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name. 5. Remember, half the people you know are below average. 6. He who laughs last thinks slowest. 7. Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm. 8. The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese in the trap. 9. Support bacteria. That's the only culture some people have. 10. A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory. 11. Change is inevitable, except from vending machines. 12. If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments. 13. How many of you believe in psycho-kinesis? Raise my hand. 14. OK, so what's the speed of dark? 15. When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane. 16. Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now. 17. How much deeper woul...

The summer of 1975 (between my Junior and Senior years in Seminary) saw` me in the United States. Through a friendship with an American seminarian I had been invited by Bishop Alexander Stewart of Western Massachusetts, to spend that summer as a team member with others who led Vacation Bible Schools in parishes in Western MA. We were trained for a week at the Diocesan Camp and Conference Centre (Camp Bement), and then spent two whole weeks in four parishes: - St. James’s, Greenfield; St. Mark’s, Worcester; Nativity, Northborough and Grace Church, Oxford. Our leader was a Seminarian, Noreen Suriner. She is now the Interim Rector at St. John’s, Northampton, MA, and we remain friends to this day. All manner of good things happened that summer. I was trained by my dear and good Gwen Sears, little knowing that we would become colleagues in Pittsfield (1984-2000) and good friends. I recorded an audio tape for the Diocese and the man who set up an informal studio and made the recording, ...

In the previous four or so months I’ve had a series of dreams with a recurring theme. In the dream I am at either St. Stephen’s, Pittsfield, or St. James’s, Cambridge. And, in the dream, I should not have been there, for I had resigned six months previously. But I am in one of those two parishes, and usually in a farewell service in which everything goes wrong. But that’s not all. In all the dreams I was supposed to have begun a new job the very next day, either as an Assistant Priest or as a Rector, but always in a Parish in Atlanta, GA And I’ve not packed my bags/sold my condo/called my new boss/told the new Vestry that I’ve accepted its call. As I “unpack” this dream theme I think that it is revealing two things. First , that I’ve never truly “let go” of St. Stephen’s or St. James’s. Part of me still longs to be there. Second, that there is something in my life which I’d still like to do, but I am not prepared for it. Enough of dream analysis. Here’s my question. Why Atlanta?...

I am getting more that a little ticked off with the white liberal media pundits. Many are making a fetish of telling us that Mr. Obama won the Democratic Party Primary election in South Carolina with 80% of the black vote and only 25% of the white vote. Why the hell are these pundits deciding that there are white votes and black votes? The real news, the only news shorn of condescending punditry is that Mr. Obama received 55% of the American vote in South Carolina. That's a plurality of votes over the other candidates "favourite son" John Edwards, and "the anointed favourite" Hillary Clinton. Barack Obama won the South Carolina Democratic Party Primary. That's it! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Here is a transcript of his victory speech. January 26, 2008 Transcript Barack Obama’s South Carolina Primary Speech The following is a transcript of Senator Barack Obama’s speech to supporters after the South Carol...