Povey Prattle

It’s been “one of those days”. A day on which I had nothing on my docket. Of course I walked, fed the cats, and had breakfast. But what next? No plans for the day, no important chores. Ben and I went out to the Mennonite owned fruit stand (about five miles east of here), and I got some sweet peaches, a cantaloupe, and some tasty pole beans. That took about 45 minutes, and I dropped Ben off at his home, knowing that he had theatre and dinner plans for the balance of the afternoon and early evening. So I “diddled the day away”. I spent all too much time on the internet, checking news from five continents. But I did come across a London “Daily Telegraph” article which named my friend, and former St. James's, Cambridge colleague The Revd. Dr. Ian Douglas as one of the 50 most influential people in the Anglican Communion. This pleased me greatly. I have known Ian since he was a High School student in Fitchburg, MA, and have followed his ecclesiastical career with great interest a...

….mean jealousies. When I was maybe 10 or 11 Mum would take me to the “Women’s Meeting” at the local Gospel Hall. This meeting, on a weekday afternoon, was presided over by Bessie Cox, the rather bossy wife of a leading Elder, Ernie Cox. Women were forbidden leadership in Plymouth Brethren Assemblies (the Gospel Hall was home to one of those Assemblies), with one exception: they could lead other women. Bessie Cox relished her leadership of these women. The Women’s Meetings would include hymn singing, prayer, an inspirational talk, and solo music. At one of the meetings which I attended, a young girl, aged maybe 10 or 11 sang a hymn. She’d memorised it, and sang it perfectly with a pure soprano voice. I can yet “see and hear” her. She sang “Listen to the voice of Jesus, Oh so sweet As the little children gather Round his feet. Young ones to his knees are climbing There to rest. Older o...

I’ve had a couple of appointments with Doctors this week. Both were to decide what to do about my swollen left hand. The first appointment was with my Primary Care Physician - the wonderful Dr. Kristin Paulus. The second was with a specialist in infectious diseases, with the thought that I might need more aggressive treatments for the infection which is causing the hand to swell. (That is yet to be determined). In each case I arrived at the Doctors’ offices in good time. And in each case I was summoned to the examination room “on time”. So far, so good. But again in each case I was greeted in the examination rooms by staff who did not identify themselves. I had no way of knowing who they were, and why they were taking my temperature and blood pressure. I had to ask each of them who they were, and what they did! Then in both cases I was left in the examination room with the words “The Doctor will be with you very soon”. And in both cases I was left alone in those rooms for 30...

My dear Ecclesiastical Mother, the Church of England, did the right thing this week. The right thing was to approve the ordination of women priests as Bishop. “What took you so long?” is the first question which came to my mind. After all, the first woman Bishop in the Episcopal Church, my beloved Bishop Barbara C Harris, was ordained Bishop in 1989. But the dear old C of E made the right decision, even in the face of threats. The threats were two-fold. First: That this action will impede unity with the Church of Rome. “So what?” I respond. “Rome has never been interested in any scheme of reunion which does not involve the recognition of the Pope as head of the Church“. Second: That we will leave the C of E if women are ordained Bishop. The “we” in that sentence is the “we” of uber-conservatives in the C of E. Such folks have been making such threats for at least 100 years. The threats are a tired old song. But, more importantly, no family, or community, or voluntary associa...

Some good folks have asked me “but what about all the bugs in Florida?” “Wot bugs?” I ask. To be sure I have my home sprayed four times each year, and I did once step on a nest of fire ants. But I have never seen a cockroach anywhere near my home, and mosquitoes are wonderfully absent. I have had a mosquito bite but once in two years. There are other larger critters, and I once stepped on a (harmless to humans) Rat Snake which had crept into my front porch. But I have to travel to a State park to see alligators. No mosquitoes, and no Muscovy Ducks (this year). Our pond usually has two or three families of Muscovy Ducks. But they are nowhere to be seen this year. And my favourite Anhinga has not returned. Given climate change and air and water pollution, this is a bit worrisome. As is the alarming decline of small birds in the United Kingdom. The old fart leaders of the G8 countries now fiddle whilst mother earth “burns”. And no leader, whether Pope, President, Prime Minister, or P...

I spent the weekend off-line, trying to update my “Skype” internet ‘phone service, so that “caller I.D.” would work on Skype. I do not believe that I succeeded. What I do know is that the sound system on my Computer has gone haywire. Time to call in an expert! That’ll cost me about $85 an hour. I traveled to St. Boniface Church on Sunday, forgetting that they are on summer schedule. I was an hour early, but could not wait, as I had invited two friends to my home for Sunday lunch, (I grilled some terrific steak). Back again at Res. House this morning. It was tough. It’s impossible to reply to six people who are asking questions, and requesting services at the same time. I was not always the model of restrained patience! ( In other words - I “blew a few people off”!) I cannot always be “Mr. Sweetness and Light” and the Res. House guests know this, and in many ways respect it. They know that I am a flawed human, and they’d rather deal with this than deal with a plaster saint. An...

I am back on line, and will blog again very soon jmp