Here are a couple of photos of me preaching at the commissioning service for my friend Peng Leong. Thanks to Ryan Smith for this one:
Sera Chung took this one:
See you along the Trail.
Category Archives: Photo
A wheel of time
We have many ways to measure time. Many devices. Varied measurements. I spotted this one while walking in Central Park yesterday. How many years has it seen?
See you along the Trail.
Purple flowers, Broadway Mall at 118th Street 1
Purple megaphones
trumpet beauty
Manhattan, New York
19 August 2012
Why I like New York 32: the wonder of Central Park 2
It started as a walk.
It became a quest.
It ended in success.
I preached this morning at the United Presbyterian Church of Ozone Park. Upon my return to the Shire near the Hudson, I faced a decision about what to do with the afternoon. Several options lay before me: work, a nap, or a walk in Central Park, my second favorite place, after the Shire, in New York.
My original thought was to visit the park, but I felt tired and sluggish so I opted for the nap. Except, I could not fall asleep. I decided to go with Plan A.
I entered the park at the Frederick Douglass Circle gate and made my way across to Harlem Meer. Then I turned south. I decided I would walk down to see Strawberry Fields before I exited. I watched an inning of softball and then an inning of baseball. The more I walked, the better I felt.
After about two hours, I looked at my pedometer and noticed that I had topped 16,000 steps for the day. I started at about 6,000 when I arrived at the park. I pondered for a few moments and realized that I could well top 20,000 steps for the day.
And the walk morphed into a quest.
And shortly after I left Central Park, the pedometer topped 20,000. It stands at 21,412; I may take a few more steps before the night ends. Success.
See you along the Trail.
Tolkien moment in Central Park
While walking in Central Park today, I had a Lord of the Rings moment. Of a sort. There are two. They are types of towers.
See you along the Trail.
Commissioned
A wonderful, joy-filled afternoon!
The Presbytery of New York City commissioned Peng Leong for ministry at First Chinese Presbyterian Church in New York. Peng will work with children. Her ministry will focus on growing both the Mandarin and Cantonese Sunday School classes. Peng will also work with recreation and tutoring programs for you. And she will assist in the outreach program to the Chinatown community.
The requirements to become a Commissioned Ruling Elder include serving in a ministerial placement. Peng chose to serve with the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations. We had a blessed year together.
Peng completed all the requirements in decency and orderliness. In May, the presbytery voted to commission her. And today, in an act involving Peng, First Chinese Presbyterian Church, and the Presbytery of New York City, the commissioning took place.
Adolfo Griffith and Sera Chung sang. Anne Conroy and Joseph Collazo provided the charges. Dr. David Ofori moderated. Nathan Lim, Betty Jones, James Tse, and Polly Lewis helped lead the service. Ryan Smith and Ricky Velez-Negron from our office attended along with many of Peng’s family members and members of the congregation and presbytery. It was a great day!
Me? Peng honored me with an invitation to preach.
Thanks to Ryan for the photo.
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Friends, New York, Photo, Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations
I trimmed
Each sport has its own tradition. Some have many.
In hockey, when teams make the playoffs, the players grow “playoff beards.” National Hockey League players stop shaving when their team enters the playoffs and does not shave until the team is eliminated from the playoffs or wins the Stanley Cup.
Reports indicate that the New York Islanders started the tradition in the 1980s. The practice has grown and spread to other hockey leagues and to fans.
I am among them. When the Pittsburgh Penguins make the playoffs, I let my beard grow. I have not shaved for over 25 years. Never one to take things to an extreme, I don’t shave for the playoffs. I simply stop trimming my beard until Pittsburgh loses. That gives me a bit of a head start on some of the players, but as a fan, their guidelines do not fully apply to me.
The Penguins had a great season and entered this year’s chase for Lord Stanley’s Cup as one of the favorites. My beard grew as they progressed. I had hopes of not trimming until the Pens reclaimed the Cup. It did not happen.
Pittsburgh lost tonight. They left the playoffs, swept out by the Boston Bruins.
I trimmed.
See you along the Trail.
Purple flowers, Broadway Mall at 111th Street
Is the purple disappearing up the stem?
Or growing down to cover the stem?
Or something else?
Manhattan, New York
19 August 2012
Purple flowers: with thanks to all the Sams out there
From The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers:
Faramir: [to Frodo and Sam] My men tell me that you are Orc spies.
Sam: Spies! Now wait just a minute!
Faramir: Well, if you’re not spies, then who are you?
[they remain silent, Faramir sighs and sits]
Faramir: Speak!
Frodo: We are Hobbits of the Shire. Frodo Baggins is my name and this is Samwise Gamgee.
Faramir: Your bodyguard?
Sam: His gardener.
When I came into possession of the Shire near the Hudson, it was under renovation. Serious renovation. Tuck pointing. Roof repair. April 20 marked my first view of the Shire without scaffolding.
With the scaffolding gone, landscaping work has begun. Today, I noticed several of my neighbors digging in the dirt, spreading mulch and fertilizer, watering, and planting.
It reminded me that many purple flowers grow freely in the wild. Others require the patient tender care of gardeners.
A day early, in honor of Sam Gamgee, my neighbors at the Shire near the Hudson, and gardeners everywhere, I offer purple flowers from the Shire:
Shire near the Hudson
2 June 2013
Purple flowers, Staple Mills Amtrak Station
A purple thicket appears on one side of the
exterior waiting area at the station
Richmond, Virginia
18 August 2012
Filed under Photo
