I got'em too, Lew

The Deep Snowfall Blues.

Check out the lyrics at Lew Dites you Tube page. I have not traumatized my innards but the weather makes me a little disgusted.

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upgrade!

Here is a picture of my latest purchase. A Beaver Creek soprano ukulele.

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latest painting

Here is a picture of my latest painting, it is oil on canvas. This ewe is named #4. She likes to get petted at feeding time and is my favorite, so this painting is titled "Number Four".

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Logging

Why we like winter.

Just a little song to remind us why we like winter.

The Epiphany of the Lord "year C”

The Epiphany of the Lord “year C”

First Reading (IS 60: 1-6) The prophet cheers the exiles who returned from Babylon with a vision of a restored city. The prophecy is fulfilled in Christ and in the new Israel, the Church.

Second Reading (Eph 3: 2-2, 5-6) This reading expresses the theological meaning of todayʼs feast: God invites Jews and Gentiles to share in the salvation brought by Christ.

Gospel (MT 2: 1-12) There Gentiles came from a far country to pay homage to the Christchild, while Jewish leaders rejected him.

The word “epiphany” means “a revelation” a good metaphor for this event ..... would be how on a dull, cold winterʼs day, a break appears in the thick layer of cloud, and through it we catch a glimpse of a radiant sun. All too soon, however, the break is covered up and the sun disappears once more. But that short glimpse of a brighter, warmer world can do wonders for us. Sometimes the more memory of it we have can work itʼs magic on our spirit.

Daily life is full of little epiphanies for those who have eyes to see and minds to reflect. They often slip through the cracks in our armor that we put on to deal with the trials of daily life.

On this day, the Feast of the Epiphany, there was a mysterious parting of the curtain which enabled the Magi to catch a glimpse of the radiance of the Child Jesus. Some people who saw the Christ Child saw just another child. But the Magi recognized the Christ as their savior. All the people had the same eyes, yet they did not see the same things with those eyes. It was faith that enabled the Magi to penetrate the curtain and ʻseeʼ the reality beyond. To help us to imagine what an epiphany may be like, or how to “penetrate the curtain”, I want you to think back to last summer (a good thing to do in January).

I want you to imagine the sounds of crickets. Now remember how sometimes the sound of the crickets becomes background noise and you eventually go about your chores around the house not thinking of the crickets. Then, when you stop what you are doing and pause, maybe standing on the back steps, you once again notice the crickets chirping and buzzing their songs to one another.

This is how it is with God and the epiphanies he sends us. All you need to do is stop.... be still.. and become aware.

And just like the crickets the small glimpses of God come and go. And, also, like the crickets and their songs, God is always there. We are the ones who become deaf or blind to Him.

In this story called “The Silver Chair” C.S. Lewis explains this coming and going of awareness of Gods presence using the voice of Aslan the Lion.

“Here on the mountain I have spoken to you clearly: I will not often do so down in

Narnia. Here on the mountain, the air is clear and your mind is clear; as you drop down into Narnia the air will thicken.

Take great care that it does not confuse your mind. And the signs which you have learned here will not look at all as you expect them to look, when you meet them there. That is why it is so important to know them by heart and pay no attention to appearances. Remember the signs and believe the signs. Nothing else matters.”

So it is for us as well.

This is the challenge all men and women have faced throughout history.

Even for the wisemen, the curtain was closed again, the star disappeared, and they had to return home. They had to go back to their old lives. However, they now had a new vision and a new hope. For them the epiphany had been one of those moments of clarity which takes a short cut to truth. It was a moment when they.... heard the crickets and read the signs, it was an event that invested every minute with significance. No doubt it took time and reflection for them to understand the meaning of what they had found at the end of their journey to Bethlehem. Like the Magi, on this feast we have come to worship the Christ-Child. And, again like the Magi, we have to go back to our homes and get on with everyday living. But, hopefully, we will see our lives differently. We have paused for a short time to see the Christ child and invite him into our lives.

In closing I would like to point out: People sometimes travel long distances in search of God and spiritual experiences which they could have had in their own homes and community. We donʼt have to travel anywhere. His star rises up before us here. Because of the coming of Christ we need no longer fear the darkness. A light has come into the world, a light that no amount of confusion or darkness can over power.

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Homily

Feast of the Holy Family (Year C)

1 Samuel 1:20-22, 24-28

1 John 3:1-2, 21-24

Luke 2: 41-52

First of all I want to say God bless you for returning to this Church so soon after such a

large day yesterday.

In some ways this Feast of the Holy Family should be placed before Christmas. In

order to prepare us for a couple of days filled with family and friends.

In any case, today we celebrate the Holy Family. I am going to focus on the gospel

reading of the young Jesus, and how he stayed behind in Jerusalem to be in his

Fatherʼs house.

As a little boy hearing the gospel every week here in this church house this is one of the

stories that has always stuck with me.

Maybe it stood out because there are not many stories of Jesus as a child. A child with

a father, mother, family and friends - a family to grow up with, to have adventures with,

to build things in the workshop with, to help in the kitchen with, to play with, and,

probably, to argue with and learn lessons from.

These are, of course, the things families are for and the things all young boys and girls

live for. Just like the boy Jesus.

To help illustrate my point, I would like to read a short story written by author Steven

Lawson called “The Fishing Trip”. It goes like this:

“At the constant request of his young son, a busy Dad took a day off to go fishing. It

was just the two of them. Leaving behind a desk cluttered with unfinished business, the

father drove to a secluded lake where they spent the day together fishing, rowing,

talking and fishing some more.

Throughout the day, all the father could think about was the pressing deadlines that he

had left behind. Phone calls to return. Projects to complete. Assignments to finish.

Meetings to make.

Years later their two diaries were discovered as each recorded what the day meant to

them. In the fatherʼs journal was recorded, “Took my son fishing. Another day lost.”

But in the boyʼs diary, the entry read, “Spent the day with Dad. It was one of the

greatest days of my life.”

There are many things we could say about this story. I would like us to focus on the impression

that was left on the young boy. The boy was left with an impression of the time spent

with his father. A very happy memory. A memory that was not relative to his fatherʼs

worries. The father in the story was concerned about his own worries. In spite of this

fact, the boy received a gift of great value from a member of his family.

The same is true of the story of the boy Jesus. In the gospel we hear a story that points

to the divinity of Jesus and the trust he had in his family not to forget him but to search

for him as any good parents would. In this story we should recognize the great

adventure that the young Jesus is having, it is one of the few times we see Jesus as a

young boy. Can you imagine his excitement at finding someone to talk to about his

Heavenly Father and engaging in questioning and learning from the Spiritual leaders of

his community. Can you imagine his pleasure at seeing his parents after three days.

Mary and Joseph were obviously worried but this was not relative to the missing Jesus.

Just as the little boy, in the fishing trip story, was not concerned about his fatherʼs

worries. Jesusʼ adventure was relative to Him, his Heavenly Father and to the receivers

of the story. The young boyʼs fishing adventure was also an important piece of his own

life, and made possible in spite of his fatherʼs worries. His father was simply there for

him.

In the same way, Mary and Joseph were there for Jesus. They gathered him up and

returned to Nazareth.

To Maryʼs credit, she did not remember this experience as an inconvenience to her and

Joseph, the gospel tells us that she treasured all these things in her heart. She

understood that this adventure was relative to her role as a Friend of God and not to her

own distress and worry.

Jesus also would have remembered this event as a great adventure.

For myself, as a receiver of the story, I recall being a small boy and how I could relate to

the adventure of Jesus “the boy” and I also recall the memories of coming to this church

with family and friends to hear this story.

To close I want to read another story. This story is called “What Kids Need”

As you listen to this story, I would like you to understand this points to all family

members.

- to the children looking for adventures, also

- to the parents, grand parents, care givers and friends of all children.

- and also to God as part of our family and the source of our inspiration and love.

“Todays kids desperately need heroes who .... play catch, enjoy tea parties or wrestle

because the heart of a child is there and they set out to capture it.

Heroes who...... laugh till their belly hurts and tears fall from their eyes, while secretly

creating deep friendships and memories that last a life time.

Heroes who....make mistakes but consider them wonderful opportunities to learn;

Heroes that.... place a preschool concert, or a ten year olds baseball game on lifeʼs

agenda because they are of infinite worth to those playing.

Heroes that.... love at all times, because love is a gift freely given and not a reward for

service well done

Heroes that.... listen eye to eye and with both ears even if it means getting on one knee

Heroes who.... admit when they are wrong and work to make things right.

Heroes who....hear about those in need and say,”Letʼs do something to help right now!”

and set off an uncontrollable wildfire of generosity and kindness.

Heroes who.... give credit to others and empower those they touch to succeed in all

they do.

Heroes who.... model love as action, commitment and truth even when it hurts because

they believe God can work miracles in even the hardest heart.

Finally, they need heroes that... Love the Lord with all their heart, soul and mind and

know the rest is just details.

The boy Jesus had these qualities in Mary and Joseph.... can our children find these

qualities in us?

Profound Words

Brother Sonny shares these words, music and art over at http://brothersonnysblog.blogspot.com/


what will we folksters sow?


-today i may have sown some humor and it may have produced some giggles

-today i also sowed a little thoughtfulness and i reaped acknowledgement

-tonight i will sow some fellowship/communion and pray to receive love and warmth

-at the end of this evening i will try and sow 'calibration' and reap some balance

-tomorrow i hope to sow encouragement and reap the conviction thati'm doin' what i'm
supposed to be doin'

*art work by brother sonny....a.t.b. 2008

MoreSnow

Even Buttercup looks disgusted.

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Winter of 2010

Just finished painting our display board for this coming summer.

Looking out the window today, ahhh!

Looks like we are going to have to do some shoveling!

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