Prayers
- Bluebelle, Church Life, Daily Life, Holy Days, Jinx, Lectio Divina, Photographs, Prayers, Reflections
First Friday In Lent
These last few months, I have felt like the tip of a bullwhip, yanked back and forth, snapping and popping with violence that almost tore my spiritual head off, then easing back to a casual, flyfishing rhythm for a few weeks, then back to the crack and snap. Being able to leave my former job and start a new one has helped immensely. It is a truly good thing to be able to work from the home that I love so much. Mrs. Orr enjoys having me here, and the dogs all seem to like it, too. The new job is not without its own set of stressors, but most…
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The Breeze So Warm and Mild
A rainbow split the warm sky yesterday evening while we were enjoying some porch-sitting out back. The birds very active, as was our chipmunk, and the 75 degree air was a welcome relief to arthritic stiffness and the inactivity that frigid weather imposes. But today the temperature is dropping steadily, the rain will resume again in a couple of hours, and by morning, we’re forecast to have lots of heavy, wet snow. The kind that snaps power lines and turns mountain roads into luge tracks. May it not come to pass. I thought I’d share a cute video and a beautiful song, if you will indulge me, dear readers. First,…
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Merry Christmas
To all my readers, a very Merry Christmas! We arose early (not by choice — thank you, Jinx and Bluebelle!) and had our Christmas. Before we settled in for a nice early afternoon nap, I prayed for each of you….by name for the ones whom I know by name, and for the rest of you in general intercession. I found a very nice arrangement of Ave Maria online. I was ready to stop the song within seconds, expecting it to be some jazzed-up silly monstrosity. Suffice it to say that when I listened to it, I was not prepared for what I heard. I hope you enjoy the skill and…
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Winter Begins
And now we sit in the deepest pocket of the year’s darkness, with the night air so still that even the nocturnal predators do not dare to disturb the hush with their cries. We have reached the farthest point on our yearly circle around the great light in the sky, and are now beginning to swing back to complete the ring, spinning always, the great seas and the vast acres containing numberless bones slipping in and out of light and dark, and so it has ever been since ages ago, back when certain words were spoken. It’s difficult when I stand in the yard to remember that this bleak patch…
- Bluebelle, Church Life, Daily Life, Holy Days, Jinx, Lectio Divina, Movies, Photographs, Prayers, Quotations, Reflections, Saints
The Fourth Sunday of Advent
This past week the weather was so warm it felt like May. The spotted dogs and I had the opportunity to take many pleasant walks, and I felt as if my body and soul were being scrubbed by the clean air I drew deeply into my lungs. I spent much of the week pondering my gratitude for my health and that of Mrs. Orr and all of our family. More than ever, I believe it’s important to stay out of the hospital and far from health care facilities if at all possible. Once again, I will refer you to the indefatigable Anne Barnhardt. One of her recent podcasts featuring an…
- Bluebelle, Daily Life, Holy Days, I Never Thought I'd Be In This Situation, Jinx, Prayers, Reflections
The Third Sunday of Advent
I travel these days between the bumpers that make a loud noise and then send me hurtling back across the board to slam into a wall or another bumper, lights flashing and the tote board rolling the digits higher, and I try so hard to keep moving so as not to drop between the flippers, and I know how to bump just enough, how to catch myself in the crook of the flipper and then slap that button and relaunch up to the top of the board. But sometimes I misjudge and I drop through that too-wide space and disappear, and then I have to use up one more of…
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Patience And Mercy
Nature teaches beasts to know their friends. – William Shakespeare Coriolanus, Act II, Scene 1 It was nearing the noon hour when one of my coworkers — we’ll call her Alice — asked me if I wanted to see her dogs. “Bub’s outside with them. He came to pick me up and brought them along.,” she said. I’ve seen photos and heard many lively tales of Alice’s dogs but have never met them in the flesh, so I quickly said, “Sure!” and followed her out the back entrance to the parking lot. Walking behind her, I was thinking of her boyfriend, Bub. Alice is several years younger than me and…
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Gratitude
I want to express my thanks to all of you who have reached out to me after my request. Though no clear path has yet been revealed to me, I am strengthened by the show of friendship and concern. Most of all, I am grateful for the prayers. This is no trite statement; my belief in the power and efficacy of prayer is central to all that I am and all that I do, even when I am unfaithful and inconstant. *** Last Sunday was the last Sunday of the Church year, and this coming Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent, marks the beginning of the Church year for Anno…
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Request For Assistance
I hope it’s not presumptuous of me to use this blog to ask for personal assistance, but I will risk the accusation anyway. The situation at my job is growing more untenable by the day, and my wife and I spent a lot of time this weekend talking about it. A mandate to submit to the experimental drug they’re calling a “vaccine” is certainly coming…I’ve heard the owners talking to the office manager, so it’s a done deal. It’s just a matter of when. That’s not the pressing matter. As far as the deathjab requirement, my response will, if given an ultimatum tomorrow, be a simple, “I’m not taking the…
- Bluebelle, Church Life, Daily Life, Holy Days, I Never Thought I'd Be In This Situation, Jinx, Movies, Photographs, Prayers, Reflections
Last Sunday After Pentecost
A week from today marks the beginning of Advent. The church calendar once provided the cadence for the march of everyday life, granting to Christians the sense of timing of season, of the low ebb of the Lenten times to the high tide of Easter. Just as farmers and cattlemen feel in their very bones the motion of the earth around the sun, and of this solar system’s wide circle around the universe, watching the changing natures scenes and the predictable habits of animals, so too the average Western man once felt the revolving year in his bones as he observed the Church’s feasts and solemn days. But now nature…