Povey Prattle

1. For reasons which are obscure my pal Bob and I chatted about the canned meat named "Spam" the other night. 2. Bob recalled eating Spam when he was a kid some 65 years ago. He liked it. 3. I remembered school lunches in Bristol. U.K.(1955 -1959)  when we were often served Spam which had been fried in batter. I loathed it. 4. But Bob and I agreed that Spam might well be "O.K". ------------------------------------------------------------------ 5.  My pal Bob, together with friends  Ben, Ron, Char, Den,and Karen came to my home this evening for conversation, beverages and snacks. 6. I decided to serve Spam. 7. I served  some cubes of Spam Lite , on top of which I placed some pineapple chunks - Spam and  pineapple linked together with toothpicks. 8. This snack was a huge success! --------------------------------------------------- 9. You'll never know until you try! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------...

Japanese Rice Wine. I heard that in a small New Jersey borough, just across the river from Manhattan, a local entrepreneur has created a micro-brewery in which she will make all-American "Japanese Rice Wine". It will be marketed under the label "Hackensake". ------------------------------------------------------------------------ My big fat Greek Sandwich. Inspired by a Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA restaurant, I decided to make a Greek style sandwich. I used the very best pita bread into which I stuffed: 1. Juicy chunks of home roasted and garlic infused lamb. 2. Thin slivers of red onion. 3. A few slices of tomato, and a bit of shredded lettuce. 4. 'Twas all moistened with some excellent Greek Yogourt. 5. It tasted "o.k." but not great. Then I remembered to add some of that crumbly Greek Cheese,  in order to bring the sandwich to perfection. That being done I exclaimed "fait accompli" ------------------------...

I don't know George Zimmerman..It would be arrogant and presumptuous of me to second guess his heart, mind and soul. I do know that I never want to own a gun. I never want to injure or kill anyone. I never want to do harm to myself. I am deeply suspicious about Florida's "Stand your Ground" law. I do know that the social canon by which many of us assess what is "mainstream and normal" is "white, male, educated, prosperous".  ( I am tired of the political talk shows which to this day usually feature four middle aged white males who pontificate on what they believe is good and bad, or right and wrong in America). I know that when a white man expresses himself forcefully he is  called "passionate", and that when a black man does the same he is described as "angry". -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About nine years ago I was crossing Cambridge Common (MA) on my way to...

Sermon for 14 th July 2013. The Revd. J. Michael Povey at St. David’s, Englewood, FL Amos 7:7-17; Colossians 1:1-14; Luke 10:25-37 ( Note  I read through the entire book of Amos in preparation for this sermon) What do we say on our way home from Church?  Maybe it's  “Church was pretty good this morning”, or “the preacher was a bit off today”. We rarely ask “what did God think about our worship?”. Scripture indicates that God is not necessarily pleased with what we and millions of other Christians do on Sunday mornings.  God sometimes despises our worship. After his win at the Wimbledon Men’s Final this year  Andy Murray, Scotland's first Wimbledon singles champion since Harold Mahony in 1896, thanked his coach Ivan Lendl for believing in him. Lendl started coaching the Scot last year. Murray said this of his coach "He stuck by me through some tough losses and he's been very patient with me, I'm just happy for him," said the...