True, no people appear.
But people were there.
The paint on the railing was worn.
Then Dennis and I came along
and transformed it into beauty.
Dennis painted.
I held the cardboard
to protect the stones.
Kind of a mindless job,
but it fit my skill set.
And someone had to do it.
15 July 2011
Filed under Ghost Ranch People, Photo
A calm, ordered, organized man,
nonetheless, at times
I can befuddle
even Dennis,
one of the Ghost Ranch Service Corps leaders
in the summer of 2011
16 July 2011
Filed under Ghost Ranch People, Photo
St. James Presbyterian Church extended to me the privilege of preaching today. The congregation began their observance of Black History Month.
As I worked on the sermon, I thought of a prayer that I had remembered and included in the worship service for the Presbytery of New York City’s worship service celebrating the life, ministry, and witness of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Rev. Dr. Otis Turner, one of my mentors, wrote the prayer. It reads in part:
We thank you for apostles, martyrs, leaders, and saints
And for humble folk whose names were never in the news.
But are recorded in your book of life.
God has blessed me. I have known many humble folk who have tirelessly pursued justice for all God’s children, loved courageously, and witnessed boldly. I know many who do so today. I give thanks to God.
See you along the trail.
After preaching at St. James Presbyterian Church, a true blessing, I walked a short way up 141st Street to visit my first National Park of the year. Historians believe that the Hamilton Grange National Memorial is the only home owned by Founding Father Alexander Hamilton.
The home has an interesting tale. It stands on its third site – having been moved twice as the city grew around it. Hamilton owned the land.
The site involves a brief tour. Only a few rooms on the first floor are open to the public. There is an informative display and two movies. One tells the amazing story of moving the Grange. The second move involved the use of hydraulics and lifting – yes lifting – the building over the church beside it. The second tells the amazing story of Alexander Hamilton. It hooked me. I need to learn more.
From the Grange, I walked home through St. Nicholas Park and the City College of New York on a beautiful, cool January day.
See you along the Trail.
Filed under National Park, Photo
Gathered to dream,
to discern,
to plan
the 2010 Peacemaking Seminar,
good folks,
good time,
good event.
27 October 2009
Filed under Ghost Ranch People, Photo
The beauty of Ghost Ranch
leads people to want to spend
as much time outdoors as possible.
The Youth Service Corps
rebuilt the outdoor amphitheater
where the community gathers for worship.
25 October 2009
Filed under Ghost Ranch People, Photo
From Ghost Ranch’s Facebook page:
We are deeply saddened by the sudden passing of our director of education & program yesterday morning, Ed DeLair. Thank you all, for your kind words and sentiments.
Services will be held Monday, February 6, at 10:30 a.m. at the Agape Center at Ghost Ranch. A gathering for lunch will follow in the dining hall.
Please keep his wife Becky and their four children, Eddie, Tom, Will and Eva in your prayers.
Son Eric, who worked at Ghost Ranch this past summer and knew Ed, shared the news with me via a text. Not wanting to believe, I fired a text of denial back to Eric. After some searching, it became clear that I should not have doubted. And then the news from the ranch itself.
Through tears that clouded my heart, an image emerged: a bright July morning, Ed standing outside the Dining Hall, Kitchen Mesa bursting with sun, steam 
rising from the coffee cup held in his hand, a big smile on his face.
Ed and I met in Israel. He took part in a travel-study seminar to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories organized by the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program. The picture shows him with his presbytery team on that trip. That’s pretty much the same smile he had on the July morning in New Mexico. Actually, that’s pretty much the same smile he always had on his face.
Over the years we bumped into each other at various places around the denomination. Most recently, we had several conversations at Ghost Ranch this past July. Clearly Ed was where he wanted to be, where he was supposed to be. And now, for reasons I cannot explain, he is not.
Many words come to mind to describe Ed – you can see a lot of them on his Facebook page – on the Ghost Ranch Facebook page:
Good
Kind
Decent
Committed
Caring
Solid (mutual friend Bob Brashear uses that one; it fits)
Competent
Faithful
Faith-filled
I grieve for Ed’s family and friends.
I grieve for the Ghost Ranch staff and the extended Ghost Ranch community.
I grieve for all who have been torn by Ed’s death – all who mourn.
I pray that they have already experienced the grace of God sustaining them and the love of family and friends supporting them as they walk this shadowed valley. I pray they continue to do so.
And I give thanks for the life and love and witness of Ed DeLair who lived – lived well and lived fully.
To paraphrase the Presbyterian service of Witness to the Resurrection: “Even in the face of death – death that comes too soon – we make our song: alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!”
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Ghost Ranch People, Photo
For many years, until her death, in 2010,
Lady roamed the Ghost Ranch,
creating memories that linger,
inspiring stories that continue to be told.
Technically true.
By traditional understandings of personhood,
Lady should not appear in this category.
She is a horse.
I know that.
But, as anyone who visited Ghost Ranch can tell you,
during her years on the ranch,
Lady demonstrated
(again and again and again) that
she had a personality;
she had a presence.
We see her still.
(And she has her own Facebook page.)
24 August 2010
Filed under Ghost Ranch People, Photo
A generational tradition
an intergenerational experience
families of all sizes and styles
visit the ranch together;
even part of mine
12 July 2011
Filed under Family, Ghost Ranch People, Photo
Joy:
a common experience at Ghost Ranch.
25 October 2009
Filed under Ghost Ranch People, Photo
