An April Sunday

A young Palo Verde tree in our neighborhood


The beautiful Catalina Mountains that rise 7000 ft above our city

 

    I have been a busy little bee this AM. It is 0830 and I have washed and folded two loads of clothes, taken my morning walk ... which was great. The birds in the neighborhood were especially cheerful (and noisy) this morning, the skies were overcast, and the temperature was about 61. Doesn't get any better than that for a 0630 walk. I put bacon in the oven, sliced the cantaloupe for breakfast, took my shower and trimmed my beard. Now for some computer time before the ever fetching Ms. Hilda awakens.
  I have to take some business cards and flyers to a "Wedding Show" at the Radisson this morning, we have to pick up Hilda's mom and take her to Northwest hospital to see her latest Great-Grandchild ... Hilda's niece Amy Ramirez, had a 9 lb. girl last night.
   We here in the desert hope that all of you are enjoying your April as much as we (I) am enjoying our Tucson April.

This is not what easterners think of when they think of the
desert, but this is our neighborhood.

The Prickly Pear outside of our apartment is sporting new growth



  I just returned from my morning walk through the neighborhood. I thoroughly enjoy these walks ... and at 70 years old, they help keep my legs in somewhat better shape. I really enjoyed this mornings walk, as we had a desert rain last night and the air was intoxicatingly fresh, the birds were simply giddy, the plants appeared so refreshed, and my beautiful Catalina Mountains were well defined and topped with clouds ... God is Great!
  However, the early AM trek was marred by one of my main peeves, a car ... didn't see the occupants, but judging by the car I suspect they were youngish ... dumped a bag containing their left over McDonalds breakfast (and the paper products that entails) out of their car window into the street. You should be able to shoot assholes like that ... without fear of recrimination!!!
  Other than that ... it was a great walk. Now, for a shower and some breakfast. And ... here are some of the things I enjoyed seeing this fabulous morning here in the desert! :-)

Yucca blooms on 8th Street

 My favorite tree here in Arizona,

the Palo Verde (Green Stick or limb),

all the limbs are green

I adore this half walk nest to the carport

The prickly pear are blooming nicely

How Does/Did a 47 Year Catholic Become a Protestant Minister?

    As most of the people who know me know … I was a Catholic for 45+ years. I became a Catholic in Vietnam, the reasons are still hazy … as are most of my in-country (Vietnam) memories from that period. Anyway, having a predilection for women who are/were of Latin/Hispanic ancestry … I remained Catholic for many years. I began … seriously … studying the Bible, along with many other facets of Christianity … and of other religions … 10-12 years ago. I had been reading about those subjects for many years haphazardly as they had always piqued my interest. Anyway, over the last few years as I became wiser, … or more jaded - take your pick … I began to feel ill at ease. A lot like Martin Luther (more about him shortly) I began to feel the frustration at the utter fallacies of “my” religion. Although I still loved the pomp and circumstance as it were, I no longer felt at ease with the trappings and teachings.

    *** Martin Luther ~ was a German composer, theology professor, former monk, and a priest. He is (was) 462 years and 3 days older than ME … 10 November 1483. Anyway, he came to reject several teachings and practices of the Catholic Church. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He proposed an academic discussion of the power and usefulness of indulgences in his Ninety-Five Theses of 1517. His theology challenged the authority and office of the Pope, the Pope’s (and Priest’s) ability to forgive sins, by teaching that the Bible is the only source of divinely revealed knowledge from God and he opposed sacerdotalism ~ the belief that propitiatory sacrifices for sin require the intervention of a priest. That is, it is the belief that a special, segregated order of men, called the priesthood, are the only ones who can commune directly with God ~ by considering all baptized Christians to be a holy priesthood. ‘nuff said!!! 

   Anyway, as I was saying … reading Luther, John Calvin, the Kabbalah, the Midrashes and various other religious texts made me rethink my Catholicism and the more I studied the Anglican / Episcopal Church … the more I was fulfilled. And though I have chosen (freely) to remain non-sectarian at this juncture of my learning curve, I acknowledge my sources. I would also like to thank the folks at Hillsdale College, Christian University, Free Will Baptist Church and the National Association of Christian Ministers for their contributions.

    So, I guess that is how a 40+ year Catholic became … and is still becoming … a Protestant Minister.

My Religious Beliefs ... sort of

   I have been (of late) trying to explain what my beliefs are ... being an ordained minister ... to some people who I converse with on-line.
   I am a Christian ... nominally Episcopal / Anglican, and believe in Christ, baptism, and the forgiveness of sins. I believe that we, as humans can have the occasional drink, cigar, et al and still be Christian. I believe that we are forbidden to "over-indulge" ... in anything. 
   As a younger man ... before my being called to do what I do ... I taught my kids my three rules for alcohol (which some never learned, although it was repeated) ...
1) Never spend money on alcohol that you need for other things
2) Never allow alcohol to cause you to miss school or work (or to alter your performance at either)
3) Never let alcohol change the way you treat family or friends (indeed, anyone)
   I also think this list applies to many things ... if they interfere with your life ... such as golf, work, hobbies of many types.
   I have never been, nor expect to be perfect (in any way or in any sense of the word). I have been ... in my lifetime ... Presbyterian, Methodist, Catholic, Baptist, Ba'Hai, Agnostic ... et al. I, like so many (MOST) of us, have done/said/been things that I am not proud of. I have been attempting to learn as much as possible about a lot of different religions, not just Christianity in it's many and varied forms, so as to be certain in my belief system ... as it exists now. If I am to perform religious rites such as weddings, Celebrations of Life (I cannot call them funerals) and baptisms, and if I am to teach others ... I must be confident in my thoughts and I cannot know what another religion preaches if I do not understand their religion as a student of same. 
   I do not have, nor want, a church ... in the modern sense of a building / edifice / et al. I believe that a church is a group of people, not a building. This holds true to the thoughts that Paul stated in his Epistles to the Ephesians and others.
   I am (still) studying and attempting to understand these things myself. I am an exegete ... one who indulges in exegesis/hermeneutics. I am especially interested, these days  ... especially since my religious inclination is Episcopal / Anglican ... in the study of the deuterocanical texts. I am making a study of the differences in thought between the Arianism (NOT TO be confused with Aryanism ... that racial oriented, pure race, doctrine of the Germans) of Arius and the conflicting thoughts of people like Athanasius of Alexandra. 
      I am also studying ... as my study of deuterocanical texts denotes ... the Apocrapha and other "discarded" religious texts.
       Now, if this doesn't make much sense to you ... you can disregard or you can Google or Wikipedia the terms.