During my quiet time this morning, I happened to pick up a book that my wife and I purchased some time ago. "Then Sings my Soul" by Robert J. Morgan. While thumbing through the pages, I came upon one hymn that stood out and spoke to me. It speaks of the grace of gratitude.
The grace of gratitude should be a natural development in a Christian who has experienced the warmth and radiance of the love and mercy and forgivness of Christ. It should be as easy for us to be grateful to God as it is for a bird to sing. A rose has no power to retain and imprison its fragrance. The grace and gratitude should be just as spontaneous and irrepressible in the heart of a Christian.
We can never make a complete list of the things for which we should be thankful to God for. The truest gratitude is not concerned with mere inventories but with an overflowing sense of appreciation that covers all blessings, known and unkown. The impulse to the grace of gratitude cannot be better expressed than in the verse "Because thy loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise Thee."
What a glorious way to begin the day!?
In His Service
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
What is a Verger.....?
How did he come up with the name for this blog?I thought that I might take the time to enlighten those of you who do not know what a Verger is.
The office of verger is one of the ancient lay offices of the Church of England. The verger is, as the title implies, a man who carries a virge or rod of office. Basically and characteristically, the verger is seen in cathedrals and in parish churches, robed and virge in hand, preceeding and symbolically clearing the way for choir and clergy as they enter the church at the beginning of the service, guiding lesson readers and preachers at the appropriate times to the lectern and pulpit.
Around the basic ceremonial office gather a range of related tasks which a paticular verger may undertake, as need and circumstance require. Invariably, a verger will "welcome" people who come to church as worshippers or visitors. People seeing the verger robed, will approach him for information and advice. He must know the History of the church and must be a source of practical advice about the services in the church and the facilities. The vergers authority "MUST" be exercised with kindness and in a real sense be a pastor.
To be a good verger, you must have a solid spiritual foundation upon which your misitry is based. Yet, the irony of the situation is that many times it becomes difficult for the verger to find time to worship adequately in the middle of performing the liturgical functions of the job.
You "must" follow a spiritual discipline. While a rule of life may sound oppressive to some, it can be a simple or as detailed as seen fit. At a minimum, pray daily. Read Scripture regularly and contribute to the life and mission of your parish.
As you can see, it's not an easy job. It takes a tremendous amount of time and patience to work out all of the details with the Altar Guild, Ushers, Choir, Priests, Acolytes, etc. This is a "calling" such as a person who is called to the priesthood. My time, effort and talents are given to the Lord who is my Savior.
May God's Peace be with you.
The office of verger is one of the ancient lay offices of the Church of England. The verger is, as the title implies, a man who carries a virge or rod of office. Basically and characteristically, the verger is seen in cathedrals and in parish churches, robed and virge in hand, preceeding and symbolically clearing the way for choir and clergy as they enter the church at the beginning of the service, guiding lesson readers and preachers at the appropriate times to the lectern and pulpit.
Around the basic ceremonial office gather a range of related tasks which a paticular verger may undertake, as need and circumstance require. Invariably, a verger will "welcome" people who come to church as worshippers or visitors. People seeing the verger robed, will approach him for information and advice. He must know the History of the church and must be a source of practical advice about the services in the church and the facilities. The vergers authority "MUST" be exercised with kindness and in a real sense be a pastor.
To be a good verger, you must have a solid spiritual foundation upon which your misitry is based. Yet, the irony of the situation is that many times it becomes difficult for the verger to find time to worship adequately in the middle of performing the liturgical functions of the job.
You "must" follow a spiritual discipline. While a rule of life may sound oppressive to some, it can be a simple or as detailed as seen fit. At a minimum, pray daily. Read Scripture regularly and contribute to the life and mission of your parish.
As you can see, it's not an easy job. It takes a tremendous amount of time and patience to work out all of the details with the Altar Guild, Ushers, Choir, Priests, Acolytes, etc. This is a "calling" such as a person who is called to the priesthood. My time, effort and talents are given to the Lord who is my Savior.
May God's Peace be with you.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
After Ike
Sorry to have neglected my space for a while, but when power is not available, neither is the means of communication via the Internet!
We are safe and sound with minimal damage to the house or yard. God has been good!
This past Sunday was the first service that we have been able to have at St. Timothy's due to the Hurricane. We had 336 people who made their way to Tomball to worship together as a family. After Eucharist, we had a time together to share about the needs of the church and also where the time and talent of our people might be used for those who still need help. We have lost a member of our church family due to the storm. M.A. Jordan was helping one of his neighbors Sunday afternoon and suffered a major heart attack. E.M.S. could not revive him. May God and His Angels surround M.A. and comfort his wife Judith during this time.
Margie returned home Wednesday evening to a dark and un-air conditioned home. Fortunately, Friday evening, power was restored and we are now back to "normal?" I returned to work on Thursday and Friday and have begun my usual schedule of night shift once again.
We have been Blessed in so many ways over the past few weeks, by prayers from friends and family and by assistance from neighbors in our area who all came together when we needed to. We pooled our resources and made the best of a bad situation. If not for God's intervention in all of this, it could have turned out to be a much worse situation. People who are still without power are becoming short tempered. Others who wait in line for food stamps and FEMA assistance are also becoming short tempered. I would ask that we ALL pray for the victims who have lost so much to know that God is in control and He will meet our every need. I have yet to hear of anyone not receiving some type of assistance when they finally drop their pride and allow someone to help.
Someone once said, "If you want your friends to remember you, borrow something from them." I want to turn this around and say, if you want to remember your friends, be sure to borrow from them. Borrow faith, hope and love. Borrow courage, humility and integrity. Borrow the Christian example of the unseen values of the soul. Borrow their confidence in the living God and their loyalty to the triumphant risen Christ. Then indeed our days will be filled with strength.
Father, as I receive of Thee and my brothers and sisters in Christ, the tokens of an imperishable inheritance, help us to give to all who come after us a full measure in turn, for Jesus sake.
Amen.
We are safe and sound with minimal damage to the house or yard. God has been good!
This past Sunday was the first service that we have been able to have at St. Timothy's due to the Hurricane. We had 336 people who made their way to Tomball to worship together as a family. After Eucharist, we had a time together to share about the needs of the church and also where the time and talent of our people might be used for those who still need help. We have lost a member of our church family due to the storm. M.A. Jordan was helping one of his neighbors Sunday afternoon and suffered a major heart attack. E.M.S. could not revive him. May God and His Angels surround M.A. and comfort his wife Judith during this time.
Margie returned home Wednesday evening to a dark and un-air conditioned home. Fortunately, Friday evening, power was restored and we are now back to "normal?" I returned to work on Thursday and Friday and have begun my usual schedule of night shift once again.
We have been Blessed in so many ways over the past few weeks, by prayers from friends and family and by assistance from neighbors in our area who all came together when we needed to. We pooled our resources and made the best of a bad situation. If not for God's intervention in all of this, it could have turned out to be a much worse situation. People who are still without power are becoming short tempered. Others who wait in line for food stamps and FEMA assistance are also becoming short tempered. I would ask that we ALL pray for the victims who have lost so much to know that God is in control and He will meet our every need. I have yet to hear of anyone not receiving some type of assistance when they finally drop their pride and allow someone to help.
Someone once said, "If you want your friends to remember you, borrow something from them." I want to turn this around and say, if you want to remember your friends, be sure to borrow from them. Borrow faith, hope and love. Borrow courage, humility and integrity. Borrow the Christian example of the unseen values of the soul. Borrow their confidence in the living God and their loyalty to the triumphant risen Christ. Then indeed our days will be filled with strength.
Father, as I receive of Thee and my brothers and sisters in Christ, the tokens of an imperishable inheritance, help us to give to all who come after us a full measure in turn, for Jesus sake.
Amen.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Ike
Well, this will be a story or how my dog Tassy & I have prepared for the Hurricane that is out in the Gulf of Mexico.
It all started last week with a tropical depression several hundred miles away. After the weekend though, there was Ike! Now you have to catch the full meaning of this story, as my wife and I three years ago were back in MA when Katrina & Rita hit. Coinsidentally, my wife again, is back in MA and will miss the storm, however, I am here with Tassy this time.
I work nights, so it has been interesting since Monday to get up and listen to the weather people try to tell you where and where not Ike might go. Well, it seems that Ike has made up his mind and is headed right for the upper Texas coast line. Work has been cancelled until Monday, people are jamming the stores, gas stations and roads in an attempt to flee Ike. I made the mistake of going out this morning in a futal attempt at finding size "D" batteries!! ( What a fool .) Every store that I went to, (which only came to four) were completely wiped out of ALL sizes of batteries, flashlights, candles, soup, bread, etc. etc.....
It is amazing to me as to how people panic when something like this happens. Since Tuesday morning, Tassy and I have been carefully moving potted plants, ornaments, wind chimes, bird feeders, lawn chairs and the like into the garage for safe keeping. We completed our mission yesterday morning so today is like a holiday for us. We are just laying back watching the TV reports and seeing all the people who are now stuck on the Interstate and will probably be sitting for who knows how long.
I contacted Fr. Stan Gerber this morning to let him know that if they had anyone who was seeking shelter coming up from Fr. Mike's church in LaPorte that I would gladly take them in. It's the only charitable thing that I can do for one of my brothers and sisters in Christ.
The time alone has been good and bad since Margie left on Tuesday. I sometimes feel as though I have no contact or friends and then I pray and God comes to the center and touch's me to let me know that I am not alone. I continue to study and pray while Margie is gone, but fully intend to continue when she returns.
Pray the God will keep us all safe during this time and that everyone will come out of this O.K.
It all started last week with a tropical depression several hundred miles away. After the weekend though, there was Ike! Now you have to catch the full meaning of this story, as my wife and I three years ago were back in MA when Katrina & Rita hit. Coinsidentally, my wife again, is back in MA and will miss the storm, however, I am here with Tassy this time.
I work nights, so it has been interesting since Monday to get up and listen to the weather people try to tell you where and where not Ike might go. Well, it seems that Ike has made up his mind and is headed right for the upper Texas coast line. Work has been cancelled until Monday, people are jamming the stores, gas stations and roads in an attempt to flee Ike. I made the mistake of going out this morning in a futal attempt at finding size "D" batteries!! ( What a fool .) Every store that I went to, (which only came to four) were completely wiped out of ALL sizes of batteries, flashlights, candles, soup, bread, etc. etc.....
It is amazing to me as to how people panic when something like this happens. Since Tuesday morning, Tassy and I have been carefully moving potted plants, ornaments, wind chimes, bird feeders, lawn chairs and the like into the garage for safe keeping. We completed our mission yesterday morning so today is like a holiday for us. We are just laying back watching the TV reports and seeing all the people who are now stuck on the Interstate and will probably be sitting for who knows how long.
I contacted Fr. Stan Gerber this morning to let him know that if they had anyone who was seeking shelter coming up from Fr. Mike's church in LaPorte that I would gladly take them in. It's the only charitable thing that I can do for one of my brothers and sisters in Christ.
The time alone has been good and bad since Margie left on Tuesday. I sometimes feel as though I have no contact or friends and then I pray and God comes to the center and touch's me to let me know that I am not alone. I continue to study and pray while Margie is gone, but fully intend to continue when she returns.
Pray the God will keep us all safe during this time and that everyone will come out of this O.K.
Monday, September 8, 2008
My first blog
Seeing as this is a first attempt at blogging, I am going to make this short. I have for a long time wanted to journal or write about lifes journey and where it has taken me and my family. Thus, starts the journey of remembering and digging into the archives to remember all of the fun, and not so fun times!
It should be a journey of which the end is still unclear, for you see, God wants us to journey always. He wants us to continue searching and looking. He wants us to take the quiet time to touch the inner and be able to focus on Him.
God has a plan for this day, and this plan includes me.
I am an idea in the mind of God, in the process unfolding.
As a child of God, I am in harmony with all living things.
Through Christ I receive power to do all things.
I accept Christ's gift of the Abundent life in me today.
It should be a journey of which the end is still unclear, for you see, God wants us to journey always. He wants us to continue searching and looking. He wants us to take the quiet time to touch the inner and be able to focus on Him.
God has a plan for this day, and this plan includes me.
I am an idea in the mind of God, in the process unfolding.
As a child of God, I am in harmony with all living things.
Through Christ I receive power to do all things.
I accept Christ's gift of the Abundent life in me today.
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