Povey Prattle

"Night night, sleep tight, mind the bugs don't bite".   When we were young our parents would often say this just before bedtime.   They would also say: "Night night, sleep tight, half the bed and all the clothes". That was apt in the days when young children shared beds (four to a bed in our home when the "boys" were younger - "two up and two down"); and homes were not heated.   But the bugs? We never saw bed bugs.   They have made a big come back. Thursday night (31 st July '08) I paid for a room in a cheap motel for one of the Res. House guests. I met him this morning to drive him over to Res. House. He told me that he'd gotten into one of the beds in his motel room, only to be bitten like mad. So he moved to the other bed.   He showed me the first bed, believing it to be infested with small cockroaches. Not a bit. It was alive with bed bugs. We notified management.   Tomorrow I'll be staying in a "good hotel...

Some years ago I officiated at a wedding at St. James’s in Cambridge. The groom and bride had planned well, and they especially desired that their guests would be made to feel welcome at the ceremony. So they eschewed the normal folderol and hired a wonderful string and flute trio to play before, during and after the ceremony. The Trio played beautifully, and I thanked them in my homily . Immediately after the ceremony the flautist came to my office and said “I have played at many weddings, but never before has the Priest/Minister expressed thanks for the music. Tell me more about this Church”. Today, that flautist, her husband and four children are devoted worshippers at St. James’s. Their last name is “Pope” and St. James’s boasts that it is the only Church which has six Popes. I was at “Sam’s Club” the other week to make a purchase. The checkout Clerk could not have been more helpful, and he showed me a way in which I could save some bucks. I wrote a note about him and placed ...

APHORISM: A SHORT, POINTED SENTENCE EXPRESSING A WISE, CLEVER OBSERVATION, A GENERAL TRUTH OR ADAGE 1. The nicest thing about the future is that it always starts tomorrow. 2. Money will buy a fine dog but only kindness will make him wag his tail. 3. If you don't have a sense of humor, you probably don't have any sense at all. 4. Seat belts are not as confining as wheelchairs. 5. A good time to keep your mouth shut is when you're in deep water. 6. How come it takes so little time for a child who is afraid of the dark to become a teenager who wants to stay out all night? 7. Business conventions are important because they demonstrate how many people a company can operate without. 8. Why is it that at class reunions you feel younger than everyone else looks ? 9. Scratch a dog and you'll find a permanent job. 10. No one has more driving ambition than the teenager who wants to buy a car.. 11. There are no ...

The Dentist will most likely be genial and/or low keyed. She will be want you to be relaxed, unafraid, and at ease. But sooner or later the Dentist or her hygienist will let it slip. “You have the worst teeth in all of Christendom, and you will need very expensive treatment”. The Plumber will arrive late. Sometimes it will be many days late. He (and it’s still mostly he) will be overweight and surly. You will gain the impression that he hates being a plumber, and that he’d rather be a world famous author. You’ll blubber out the problem. He’ll look at you as if you were speaking in tongues. He’ll take a cursory look. Then will come the sharp intake of breath through his teeth. At that moment you’ll know that his work will cause you to take out a second mortgage. You like your Doctor . She listens well as you describe your symptoms. She’ll ask the right questions, and hone in on your problem with amazing guesswork or accuracy. This is fine. But then you remember what happened...

Bishop Gene Robinson keeps up his good witness at the fringes of the Lambeth Conference. He had an excellent interview which was published in yesterday’s London Sunday Times. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I forwarded it to a few folks, both straight and gay. A couple of the straight folks were those I’d presumed to be also narrow. Both replied with such affirming words about gay and lesbian people in the Priesthood and Episcopate: they are tired of the hypocrisy of the ultra-conservative Bishops who condemn homosexuality, but are silent about genocide, repression etc. in their home Countries. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Meanwhile, Bishop Thomas Shaw (my Bishop in Massachusetts) reports that the American and Canadian Churches are being “called out” in hearings at the Lambeth Conference. Apparently (and this is my interpretation, not Bishop Shaw’s) the American and Canadian Anglic...

John McSame gets it wrong again. Here is the background, taken from a transcript of an ABC Sunday morning show The proposed Arizona ballot measure endorsed by McCain reads: "The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin, in the operation of public employment, public education or public contracting." Here is McCain's exchange with (George) Stephanopoulos: STEPHANOPOULOS: "Opponents of affirmative action are trying to get a referendum on the ballot here that would do away with affirmative action. Do you support that?" MCCAIN: "Yes, I do. I do not believe in quotas. But I have not seen the details of some of the proposals. But I've always opposed quotas." STEPHANOPOULOS: "But the one here in Arizona you support?" McCAIN: "I support it, yes." Notice McSame’s response to the question. He says “I do not believe in ...