Fixed . . .

We hope.

We had the gas company out on Monday to put an additive in the tank that is supposed to prevent moisture from building up in the line.

When I walked into the office on Tuesday, however, the furnaces weren't working. But about 10 a.m., after the weather had warmed up and the line had a chance to bask in the morning sun, the furnaces kicked on.

And according to a parishioner, they were working this morning; so I'm hopeful that whatever the gas company put in the tank (I think it's methanol) will take care of the problem.

Cancelled

For only the second time in my tenure here I had to cancel services in VC. The first was due to a freak storm that blew through, making traveling the roads a little . . . dicey.

We had another storm blow through the past few days, but the roads are in great shape.

However, both of our furnaces went out over the weekend; so we have no heat to either the upstairs or the downstairs.

Services cancelled due to lack of heat.

Got a guy trying to figure it out. Hopefully this won't cost us major bucks.

Sermon, Proper 28B, Mark 13:1-8

Road maps. The very first time we drive somewhere, chances are we use a road map. Whether it's a map scratched out on a piece of paper to someone's house showing a left turn at the big tree and four houses down on the right, or a Rand McNally Road Atlas showing which spur and loop to take to avoid a big city, we use road maps to get us from here to there. Not only do we use them to get us from here to there, but we use them to figure out how long it will take us to make the trip - a few minutes, a couple of hours, several days? We use them to plan our journey and get there on time.

I have found that having a map on a road trip with kids has the ability to lessen the cries of, "How much longer?" and, "Are we there yet??" I could give my daughter a map and say, "Here's where we are, here's where we're going; have fun keeping track of our journey." Granted, it didn't always work, but it helped. Besides, I could always fall back on my old reliable, "You can be there right now if you really want."

And sometimes it's nice to have a map handy so you don't get lost. In the summer of 2003, I worked at St. Paul's in Walla Walla, and my daughter spent the summer with friends in Spokane. When it was time for us to go back to Chicago, I picked her up and we did some cross country father-daughter bonding. I let her set the agenda. We stopped in a variety of places, and, in general, had a ball. We talked about our summers, the upcoming year, where we might end up, and learned a little bit more about each other. It was a great trip; and yes, I had the map just in case.

Maps are our friends. Sometimes, though, we can get too dependent on them. Sometimes we get too focused on where we've been and how long it will take to get to where we're going. Sometimes we need to slow down and spend some time where we are.

Scripture can be our spiritual road map. It tells us where we've been and it tells us where we're going. We began our journey in the Garden with the tree of life; we will end our journey in a new heaven and a new earth with the same tree of life. And on our way will be many places for us to stop and explore.

But unlike a road map that tells us how far we've come, how far we have yet to go, and exactly when our journey will end, Scripture does no such thing. Scripture may give us guide posts along the way, but it doesn't give us mile markers. The road map of Scripture is more like the trip with my daughter; we know the end destination, but the trip is more about spending time in certain places.

We need to remember this about Scripture: it's like a road map, but it is not a road map.

Today's gospel passage is from Mark 13, otherwise known as the Little Apocalypse. Jesus talks about the end times, false prophets, the destruction of the temple, wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes and famines. Peter, James, John and Andrew want to know when these things will be. They want a road map. They want to know exactly when their journey will end. But Jesus can't tell them. All he can say is, "When you see these things taking place, you know that he is near."

And this is the problem with people who make a living out of giving more meaning to apocalyptic literature than it was intended to have. How many times have we heard that the Antichrist is among us and the end of the world is near? From the Vandals at the gates of Rome, to Martin Luther, to Napoleon, Stalin, Hitler, Mao Tse Tung, the Pope (any Pope), Ronald Reagan and Barak Obama, people spend more time looking for the Antichrist than they do looking for Christ.

Sometimes people are so convinced that the end of the world is imminent - the Millerites of the 1800's, Y2K, 2012 - that they stop doing the work we have been sent out to do. People stop working to make thy kingdom come and simply sit around waiting for things to happen. They sit around waiting for the Second Coming so they can glory in being right.

But Scripture isn't a road map. Nowhere does Jesus ever say, "After Israel is at war with Egypt for six days . . . after five earthquakes in the land of Cana . . . you will have three months until the end of time." What he does say is that when we see these things, the Son of Man is near.

These things happen all around us every day. Wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, hurricanes . . . that's the world we live in. And it would behoove us to remember that we are the face of God incarnate, we are the representatives of Christ in the world.

When we see those things and respond to them - our transient military ministry, supporting ERD, helping the hungry and homeless - then Christ is very near indeed.

Scripture is not a road map given to us to sit back and count down the events until the end of the world and the return of Christ. Scripture is more of a guided tour. It's our journey with God where we stop at various places and explore. It's where we learn more about God and where we share more of ourselves with him. It is a recognition that we are already living in the last days. We are living with wars and rumors of wars and natural disasters of all kinds. And because of that, because we are living in the last days, it is up to us to reflect the nearness of Christ to a broken and hurting world; it is not up to us to sit on our rear ends waiting for God to come clean up this mess.

So let's spend less time trying to read the road map to figure out exactly how long we have, and spend more time reflecting the nearness of Christ as we live in the moment.

Nervous

The concrete was poured Wednesday.

It has been under blankets protecting it from the snow since Wednesday evening.

I talked with the contractor this evening; the blankets are coming off tomorrow morning.

I'm just a little nervous about how all this set up in sub-zero weather.

Award

The VCPA is a local group dedicated to the preservation of our local "Wild West" buildings and heritage. They are behind the historical reenactments during the summer weekends (come see the hanging of George Ives, fun for the whole family), the two Grand Victorian Balls (after the first of which St. Paul's does a Holy Eucharist from the 1789 BCP) and various other events.

They also keep a close eye out for people who work to preserve our buildings and history and, once a year, hold an awards ceremony for those people deserving of such.

But this is also an insular area and people tend to be wary of outsiders and what they might do to that history . . . like, refurbishing an old house to make it "modern and up to date." People here don't like modern and up to date. I hadn't been here six months when I heard that I had won an award for my work at St. Paul's in VC (if you remember, the church that needed new carpet). In actuality, it was an award for doing nothing to the building.

While I was appropriately gracious, it felt a little like, "Welcome to the neighborhood; don't mess with our stuff."

But things have changed in the last five years.

Last night I accepted an award from the VCPA given to Christ Church. First, CC is not in VC, so it would appear that the VCPA is beginning to expand their vision. Second, I have apparently been here long enough, and done enough good things, that people are no longer scared that the outsider will run roughshod over local history.

Over the past three years, CC has re-roofed the building, installed a new bell tower, and completed a paint job (go here and scroll down to see what's been done). For all of these efforts, the members of the VCPA decided that we were deserving of an award recognizing our commitment to preserving the local history.

We still have things to do (a major stained glass window preservation project needs to be undertaken and, good lord, we need to get rid of our 1974 brown & gold indoor-outdoor all-purpose carpet); but it's nice to be recognized for work we have done, and nice to know that people finally realize that I didn't come here to eliminate their history but to add to it.

Domestic Priest

Today was a "domestic" day around here. Not that I didn't go to the office, I did. But I had a sort of honey-do list that wasn't given to me by my honey. In short, it looked like this:

1. Shovel snow
2. Took me twice as long to get to VC in the storm, where I thought I'd be shoveling snow.
2a. When I walked up to the church, one of the locals was already shoveling for me.
3. Vacuumed the church today.
3a. Changed the bag and cleaned the vacuum cleaner before actually doing #3.
4. Changed two lights in one of our chandeliers. This means hauling out the 12' step ladder from the organ pump-room, setting it up, changing the bulbs, then putting the ladder back.
4b. Make sure to not tell anyone I do this by myself.
5. Changed the hymn board (well, okay, not technically domestic, but it needed to be done)
6. Shovel snow

I did get the sermon finished. Then I decided to go home early because I didn't know what shape the roads were in -- first winter storm and all. Turns out I could've stayed the rest of the day, the roads were fine. When I got home, I

7. Shoveled snow.
8. Called my sidewalk contractor to make sure the concrete would be okay and that it would still be ready by Sunday. He assured me it would be.
9. Fielded a couple of calls that came into the CC office (since I was here and all)

That was about it. Did I mention that I shoveled snow today? Yeah . . .

How I spent my day

(Yeah, like you care . . . but there are pictures below)

I met with "The Boys" this morning. This is what passes for our local ministerial association. Basically it consists of me, the UMC pastor and the pastor of a non-denominational church. We are the ones who meet because, quite honestly, we are the ones who can play nice with others.

When I got back to the office, I was greeted with a concrete pour. If you go visit my parish website, you'll see Christ Church in the upper left. You really can't tell from that picture, but there is a ramp that runs down from left of the main doors. That ramp leads to . . . grass. Driving a wheel chair across grass is . . . well . . . less than ideal. I have no idea why previous members/clergy never dealt with that, but I finally have. There will now be a walkway from the main sidewalk to the ramp, and from the ramp to the sidewalk at the parish hall. And the best part of it is that it will be ready by Sunday.

Read a bit, thought about the sermon a bit, went for a walk, and waited around for my afternoon appointment who never came. So, pictures . . . here you go:

The Big Pour

The Rough Draft