Category Archives: Travel

April 28, 2012 · 7:40 pm

Love songs – silly or not

What song lyrics would you suggest for a wedding sermon on love?

Tonight I had the privilege and joy to preach at the wedding of two friends.  For the sermon I went with a reflection on love that used lyrics from a number of songs. Some I identified myself. Others were suggested by mutual friends: David Bowie, Laura Mariko Cheifetz, Noelle Tennis Gulden, DeLaina Gumbs, Irene Pak, Valerie Small, and Laura VanDale. For the little help that I needed to get by, I thank them.

Here’s the “playlist”:

  • With a Little Help from My Friends – The Beatles
  • What’s Love Got to Do with It? – Tina Turner
  • Can’t Buy Me Love – The Beatles
  • Free in You – Indigo Girls
  • Do You Love me? – Fiddler on the Roof
  • September – Earth, Wind, and Fire
  • Unforgettable – Nat King Cole
  • Home Is Where the Heart Is – Mary Travers and Holly Near
  • Respect – Aretha Franklin
  • Till the End of Time – Perry Como
  • Treasure Island – Mary Black
  • Bridge over Troubled Water – Simon and Garfunkel
  • You Can’t Hurry Love – Diana Ross and the Supremes
  • Love You ‘Till the End – The Pogues
  • Power of Two – Indigo Girls
  • Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own – U2
  • Let the Circle Be Wide – Tommy Sands
  • How Can I Keep from Singing? – Eva Cassidy

What would you add?

See you along the Trail.

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April 28, 2012 · 9:55 am

Henna Night in Dublin

Joel and Roja’s wedding brought me to Ireland. It seems only fitting that the first posting related to the trip should feature a photo of Roja, Joel and me. Thursday evening saw two wonderful celebrations – a Groom’s Party at the Palace Bar followed by Henna Night at Clontarf Castle in Dublin. At the end of Henna Night, we paused for this photo.

I leave in a few moments to prepare to solemnise the service at the Stephen’s Green Hibernian Club.

See you along the Trail.

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April 25, 2012 · 8:25 am

The way of travel

An enlargeable basic map of Ireland

An enlargeable basic map of Ireland (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Tricia and I head to Ireland today. Friends have invited me to solemnise their marriage.

The day will see packing and the tying of some loose ends. Other loose ends will remain so. No doubt ends once thought secure will be discovered to be loose. Such is the way of travel.

I have long looked forward to a trip to Ireland. This is my first. I rejoice in the occasion. Still I will complain about the rush to get ready and worry about the things left undone and, Bilbo-esque, wonder about what I may inadvertently leave at home. Such realities are the way of travel.

Disrupting our routine opens the possibility for new experiences. New experiences offer the opportunity for new insights and growth. And that too is the way of travel.

See you along the Trail.

 

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April 20, 2012 · 11:49 pm

Security

Long line
slowly moves,
privilege whines.

SDF
20 April 2012 

 

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December 16, 2011 · 4:00 pm

Vanity

Like many who have gone before,
and many who will come after,
I seek to weave words into wit,
to elicit joy and laughter.

But when it all is done and said,
my words are mere inanity.
I send them out into the world –
an exercise in vanity.

15 December 2011
SW 313

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December 5, 2011 · 6:56 pm

Time . . .

Time . . .

time . . .

time . . .

time flies . . .

time crawls . . .

time flows . . .

time stalls . . .

time . . .

time . . .

time . . .

5 December 2011
DL 6056

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December 5, 2011 · 6:53 pm

Air traffic hold

The door closes, the jet-way withdraws,
the plane backs away from
the gate.

Clearing the gate, the pilot turns
the plane; it enters
the runway.

Taxiing down the runway,
the plan pulls to one side
and waits

for the word to be given.

5 December 2011
DL 180

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November 29, 2011 · 10:00 pm

Spinning mysteries

Whining, grounding sounds caught my attention as I entered the LaGuardia restroom. I quickly identified two sources. Beside each sink hung automatic towel dispensers.

Wave your hand below it and a dispenser will spit out a towel for your use. A simple economic, ecological concept and process.

Except. At this moment, two of the dispensers displayed symptoms of some form of mechanical possession. Mindlessly they churned. With no one seeking a towel, they churned. On and on they churned.

One produced an endless stream of towels that created a pile on the sink. The other, empty, simply spun, grinding gears, producing nothing.

As I found a dispenser that worked as intended by its designers, I pondered the mysteries of the moment. The mysteries of spinning one’s wheels and producing nothing. The mysteries of spinning one’s wheels and producing something that no one wants.

And I realized that I have done both. Often. But I am not alone.

See you along the Trail.

29 November 2011
Delta Terminal, LGA

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October 31, 2011 · 2:19 am

Thanks for all the saints

Today (Sunday 30 October – I write in Folsom, California) provided a great reminder of the Communion of Saints – a wonderful experience on Reformation Sunday and the day before All Saints’ Day.

Today brought the privilege of speaking at Davis Community Church – an experience that reminded me of the saints who are part of my life.

Mary Lynn Tobin, the pastor of Davis, and I attended college together – just a couple of years ago.

Nancy Eng MacNeill, colleague and friend, served as my chauffeur. Her family has put up with me and will continue to do so for the next few days.

Jewel Kinney, who attended a seminar that Rachel Pedersen and I led at Ghost Ranch, greeted me during the worship service.

David Rue, a friend from Cleveland where we engaged in antiracism work together, stayed for both my presentations.

Tom and Joanne Haller, long-time peace activists and acquaintances, came to the presentations as well.

Alice Nishi, who served on the task force to study reparations, made it to my first presentation.

Ripples of friendship, collaboration, and shared living, extend widely from each of these people – moving through my life, calling to mind countless individuals who have touched my life and who continue to journey with me in the Communion of Saints.

We do not live alone but within a web of relationships that transcend space and time. And that is good. Very, very good.

For all the saints – those I remember, those I forget, those I have never met – for all the saints, thanks be!

Nancy Eng MacNeill took the picture.

Yes, I need a haircut.

Yes, I need to trim my beard.

See you along the Trail.

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October 5, 2011 · 12:18 am

More on mismatched names

Yesterday I described a recent travel experience in which my boarding pass had the name people call me by and not my legal first name. Between two gate agents and two security check points only once did this draw a comment.

A trusted friend reminded me that this was an experience of privilege. And she is right. I believe that her “wild guess” that “this would not have happened so favorably to others” is correct. I was privileged in my treatment and in how I viewed that treatment.

Am I asking that I should have been hassled? No. But I do think everyone should be treated the same and if that means I should have faced more complications because others do, and others would, then so be it.

See you along the Trail.

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