Povey Prattle

"Poor as a Church Mouse". We've often said it, but we've never stopped to ask why Church Mice are so poor. It's because of ecclesiastical hypocrisy. Church people "talk the talk" about justice and equity, but they do not "walk the walk"  when it comes to Church Mice . These poor creatures - 1)  are underpaid, and often not paid at all. 2) are dependent  on scraps of food  in order to survive. 3)  live in squalid conditions. PLEASE JOIN MY MOVEMENT "JUSTICE FOR  CHURCH MICE"  Our demands  on behalf of Church Mice are simple. 1)   A living wage. 2) Access to decent foods at all times. 3) Comfortable and affordable housing. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Is this too much to ask? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I conclude with a bit of cheesy  humour

I was in my local supermarket this morning in the express lane, with my four items.  ( Publix gets it right with "fewer", not "less"). There were two people ahead of me.  The one whose groceries were being scanned was more than talkative, thus slowing down the line.    Was    the clerk/cashier supposed to say:   " Hurry up ma'am, there are other people in line" ?   Of course not. From behind me I heard an almost disembodied voice say  "Is the the Express Line?".   I ignored her question, The lane was clearly marked "Express, Ten items or fewer" .   The voice cried out "she (the clerk/cashier) is talking too much".   (Can you hear the querulous tone?). Came my turn in line.  The voice behind me addressed the clerk/cashier asking "are you new here?" The clerk/cashier volunteered that she had  been employed since last October.  The voice said "I knew it"   in a...

The Spellbinding Swedish Song That Calls Cows Home Thanks to Sarah McF for tipping me off to this article. What is kulning? https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-is-kulning

My shadow early today (Ash Wednesday) as I walked out on a chilly (by Florida standards) morning.  NO  I am not wearing a Biretta, nor do I have a "man bun". I am wearing the woolen bobble hat which my niece Nicola knitted for me. As for birettas.. I'll turn in my grave if ever I see myself wearing one of these esoteric bits of ecclesiastical haberdashery. 

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. (Isaiah 11:6) Isaiah's Peaceable Kingdom will not come about by magic.  We are called to create it. ------------------------------------------------------------ It was probably eight years ago that I was on a Frontier Airlines flight from Tampa to Denver. My seat mate was a young (23 years old) man, a member of the LDS Church, who was on his way home to Utah -  to his wife, his child, and his dog. I asked him about his faith, and especially about his work as a young LDS Elder and the two year? missionary service which young Mormons undertake. I asked him about his wife, his child, and his dog. In turn he asked my about my faith and life as an Episcopalian Minister, and about the Episcopal Church. As we drew near to Denver he thanked me.  He said "you are the f...

Lunch today  - so good. Macaroni and Cheese, with carrots (of many hues), snow peas, and pan fried Trout. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Great G On Feb 17th 2019 I sent all my 2018 tax information to the Massachusetts accounting firm I have used since 2001 (thanks Manny Faria for the recommendation way back then). Yesterday (March 3rd 2019) I received (electronically) the tax return this firm had prepared for me.  I signed and returned it electronically. It's good to have a tax preparer that I trust  ( despite a merger of  my 2001 firm with a much bigger outfit, the same man has prepared my taxes for all these years.)   --------------------------------------------------------------- GREATEST In spite of all the confusion caused by the passage of the Trump/Republican tax bill (under which many of my middle class working friends have seen their 2018 tax bill double) I'll be getting a ...

She was a Muslim.   She was a direct descendant of an Indian Royal Family.    She agreed to spy for the British in WWII.   She was the first female spy to be parachuted into occupied France.   She was betrayed by a double agent.   She was executed  (murdered) in Dachau http://historysheroes.e2bn.org/hero/whowerethey/4354