Here’s the post by my friend Bob Brashear, pastor of West-Park Presbyterian Church, on Sunday’s worship service.
Here’s a real easy way to buy tickets for the June 19 Bridge to Restoration Concert. It’s the one I am attending – I will be looking for you.
And here’s information about the other concerts in the series – I look forward to your reviews.
See you at the concert!
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Music
Not alone, we stand together,
for alone one could not stand.
Not alone, we stand together,
soul to soul and hand in hand.
Not alone, we stand together,
aching hearts, but spirits strong.
Not alone, we stand together,
watching, waiting, working,
when others turn away;
seeing, hearing, feeling,
what others would avoid.
Not alone, we stand together,
facing suffering, sharing pain,
seeking justice, pursuing peace.
Not alone, we stand together,
wounded,
surely wounded,
sorely wounded,
still we stand.
Not alone, we stand together,
armed with faith
and armed with laughter,
hope and weeping,
dreams and love.
Not alone we stand together,
for alone we could not stand.
26 July 2001
Colorado National Monument, Fruita, CO and Orem, UT
with thanks to Diana Cheifetz
Filed under Poem
West-Park Presbyterian Church (86th and Amsterdam) celebrated its 100th birthday today – on Pentecost.
A group from Medina Presbyterian Church in Ohio is visiting New York this week. They have a number of activities scheduled, including a visit to the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations, work at Jan Hus Presbyterian Church, Covenant House, and Old Bergen Church.
They requested suggestions for places to worship today – I provided several from the amazing diversity that is the Presbytery of New York City – among them West-Park.
I arrived at West-Park around 10:30. I was talking with Andre Solomon-Glover (he’s doing a concert next Sunday – do you have your tickets yet?) when a group came in.
“Excuse me,” I said to Andre.
Walking up the aisle, I said, “I’ll bet you folks are from Cleveland. Well, actually I bet you folks are from Medina.”
Smiles and laughter followed as did a wonderful worship service – celebrating the congregation – celebrating Pentecost – celebrating the different gifts that God gives to each of us – a diversity that may challenge us at times, but certainly blesses us and enriches us.
Pastor Bob Brashear reminded the congregation of its rich history – all the people who had been through the building, whose spirits remain present nurturing the congregation into the future. He reminded us of the congregation’s multi-faceted witness to social justice in the name of Jesus in the past – a witness that continues in the present – a witness that will continue into the future.
The lectionary reading from Numbers told of Eldad and Medad. Bob told us that this story teaches that all of us – with all of our gifts – are needed for ministry. We cannot engage in ministry alone – we need each other. It brought to mind a poem (of sorts) from almost ten years ago – not my best, but not my worst.
We gathered around the communion table in a circle with the reminder that circles are eternal – and that those people with whom we go into a circle remain with us always – so now, in that mystery we know as the Communion of Saints, we who gathered for worship today, from New York and Medina and points between and beyond, are a part of the West-Park Presbyterian family and story – and West-Park is forever a part of us.
Thanks be to God!
See you along the Trail.
Checked out Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole tonight. I am in something of a Geoffrey Rush phase.
It’s an intriguing movie made in Australia and featuring a whole slew of ANZACs. Entertaining story – well done animation – great to hear the voices and figure out who they are.
But the emphasis on the gizzard is a bit too much – it appears interchangeable with grit (True Gizzard) and heart (Bravegizzard) and I can even hear Alec Guinness in the background: “May the gizzard be with you.”
See you (and your gizzard) along the Trail.
Filed under Movie
This picture is from Geneva.
Ever since I took it I have been wondering, losing sleep to wonder:
Who changes the red handkerchief when it gets dirty?
Thoughts?
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Travel
Without warning,
memories bubble to the surface,
absent faces loom before me,
grief crashes remorselessly into my heart,
rips at my spirit,
reopens unhealed wounds,
provides painful reminders:
words regretted as they passed my lips,
unsaid words forever rued,
deeds neglected,
love denied.
Shortcomings, missteps,
failures, and betrayals
wash through my memory,
flood my mind.
Tears flow freely
as I slowly,
painfully
rebuild my defenses
until the next wave,
until the next wave.
10 June 2011
Shire on the Hudson
Filed under Poem
After tonight’s meeting of the Council on Witness to Society and the World, DeLaina Gumbs and I went out to dinner. We had some plans, but as we approached the place we had originally selected, we noticed a Five Guys Burger and Fries.
“Do you want to go to Five Guys?”
“I have heard they make good burgers. But I have never been to one.”
“So do you want to go?”
“Sure why not.”
We ordered. Talked. Got our food. Started eating.
“So is it a good burger?” DeLaina had opted for another entree. I alone tried the burger.
“It’s a good burger.”
“The best burger you have ever had?” she asked. One sign proclaimed that; friends had told both of us that.
“The best burger I have ever had?” I reflected. “I don’t think so.”
“Where was the best burger you ever had?”
“Well . . . here’s how I answer that question. Memory can be a funny thing. We often romanticize experiences from the past – including food. First experiences – early experiences take on a glow and aura over the years that sometimes they don’t deserve.”
“OK. That makes sense.”
“So realizing that I may be remembering things as better than they were . . . I would say that the best burgers I ever had were in college. There was this bar. Every week or so, a group of us would go there. We would call the trips ‘2-buck-nights.'”
“2-buck-nights?”
“Well you have to remember that this was long ago.” I proceeded to demonstrate how long ago by stumbling over the number of years, finally realizing that it had been about 35 years ago or so.
“And what I remember is that for 2 bucks, you could get 2 beers and 2 burgers.”
“Really? That seems pretty cheap.”
“That’s what I remember. And there has been a lot of inflation in 35 years or so. Of course I could be wrong. But whatever the price was, those burgers are the best I remember having.”
“What made them so good?”
“I am not sure. I suspect that it had as much to do with the people – the friends, the owner, the bartender – as it did with whatever the taste might have been. At any rate, those will always be the burgers I identify as my favorite.”
Five Guys makes a good burger, but memory still burns strong.
See you along the Trail.
“The ball is really bouncing around out there.”
That seems a rather obvious observation to make about a basketball game.
If it was bowling or billiards, bouncing balls might seem worth a comment. Balls should not bounce in billiards or in bowling.
But basketball? Seems like bouncing is pretty much in order.
Or maybe that’s just me.
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Sports
Filed under Poem
Along the Graybeard Trail 