Prepare Ye

This may be blatant plagerism, but I'm posting a copy of this post that a classmate & friend of mine wrote for Bread for the World. Ending Hunger Takes Time by Norma Malfatti When Bread for the World started producing Leaven, a newsletter for Covenant Churches , I was three years old. Almost 30 years have gone by since that first issue and, as I have come to realize after reading sixteen years of hunger facts, bulletin inserts, reflections, activity ideas and so much more, many things have changed. However many things remain the same regarding the plight of poor and hungry people in the world. In 1980 people in developing countries used 85% of their income on food. Today that figure is about 80% - an improvement to be sure, but only a small one, and with the rising food prices and global hunger crisis, that number is rising every day. During the mid-1980s 500 million people were food-insecure and one person died every second from hunger and hunger-related illnesses. Today nearl

I'm in a bit of a funk from CPEeeeek, so please pardon the weak rip offs of quotes of the 60's. I saw the best souls of my class destroyed by sadness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the hospital halls at dawn looking for a happy fix; Angel-hearted chaplains burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the heartache of night. - apologies to Allen Ginsberg's Howl Ask not what your God can do for you - ask what you can do for your God. apologies to John F. Kennedy

I've noticed that ever since I told people that I was going into the ministry, I've been forwarded EVERY religious e-mail they get. I appreciate the sentiment, but I'm tempted to sell all of the addresses to spammers. Sometimes, I get them with comments. Here is an email that I was forwarded by one of my laped Catholic friends. ORIGINAL EMAIL When God leads you to the edge of the cliff, trust Him fully and let go, only 1 of 2 things will happen, either He'll catch you when you fall, or He'll teach you how to fly! 'The power of one sentence! God is going to shift things around for you today and let things work in your favor. If you believe, send it. If you don't believe, delete it. God closes doors no man can open & God opens doors no man can close. If you need God to open some doors for you...send this to ten people. ...Have a blessed day and remember to be a blessing... MY FRIENDS COMMENT (either she was upset, or didn't notice the Caps Lock light

The only thing schlockier than my affinity for the musical stylings of the Man Who Wrote The Songs (except that one) is my delight in the music of Swedish sensations, ABBA. So I am looking forward to the premiere of Mamma Mia!

Twenty-three years ago today, the Live Aid concerts were held. Their goal to feed the starving still goes on, just as it has since Christ commanded his disciples. To continue the fight, visit Bread for the World or ONE.org . Here are some YouTube highlights of the concert. If you don't remember or weren't alive for it, rent the DVD's. You'll have to endure A LOT of British synth-bands, but you'll understand why some bands like U2 & Queen became legends. Queen's set part 1 Queen's set part 2 Queen's set part 3 Queen's set part 4 (Is this the world we've created?) U2 set - Sunday Bloody Sunday U2 set - Bad David Bowie - Heroes Dire Straights (w/ Sting) - Money for Nothing

IT'S BIKE WEEK HERE IN GETTYSBURG. IT'S REALLY COOL TO HEAR ALL OF THOSE MOTORCYCLES REVVING THEIR MOTORS. AND REVVING AND REVVING AND REVVING. I WOULD LIKE THE BATTLE'S CANNON FIRE TO QUIET THINGS DOWN. Maybe I've been doing CPE too long, but when I see motorcyclists riding down the street sans helmets, I'm thinking, "Will they be a level one trauma or level two?" And "Will I be able to find their ID and contact information in the wallet chained to their pants?"

One of the suggestions that my classmates had for me from last week’s mid-term review is to be aware of over-connecting with families and trying to do too much. I’ve taken that to heart, and have developed a new goal. I want to change the world. And I am going to do it. I have read that every time water flows over a rock in a stream, it takes a little piece of the rock away with it, and it leaves a little bit of water behind. Sometimes, the rock is dislodged and travels downstream with the water. Sometimes the rock diverts the water into going somewhere it had never intended. On October 23, 1984, a singer for a moderately successful Irish band watched a BBC news show about the famine in Ethiopia. He decided to try to do something. He wrote a song and made some phone calls to see if some of his friends would be willing to sing on this charity single. They quickly booked a studio and rushed the song our for the British Christmas market. He hoped that it would make £70,000. “Do they know

This is the homily that I delivered on Wednesday during our weekly noon worship service. The devotional that I read today I made up on the drive up from G'burg. When I can (over the weekend) I'll write it up and post it. I think that we can find God everywhere in the world. I think that we can hear God in the voice of friends. I think that we can see God in the actions of those around us. I think God speaks to us in the surroundings and situations that we encounter and face each and everyday of our lives. We only have to keep ourselves open to the message. One of the ways that I have heard God is in music. Songs can contain a message that speaks to everyone differently. Songs can speak to you differently at different times in your life. The combination of word and music form a unique communication method. We hear the language of the lyrics, and can process the message intellectually. We feel the melody and the emotion it carries, and it speaks to our hearts. Their union provid

My national church body, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, is in the midst a fierce fight which is splitting the body in two. This fight has divided congregations, church leaders, even members of my classes at the Gettysburg Seminary have come down on one side or the other and will not budge. It is not over the role of women, or homosexual rights. It is something much, much more important. It is a new hymnal. Not quite two years ago, the ELCA introduced the Evangelical Lutheran Worship book. It is to replace the Lutheran Book of Worship that was published in 1978. But some people resist change, and rejected the book out of hand. Some people were willing to accept change, but they found too many things were different, and rejected the book. Some congregations tried the book, but found some of their favorite hymns were missing or changed, and have begrudgingly accepted the book. Some people have embraced the book and it’s changes, flaws and all. I attended a seminar in February

I love music. Unfortunately, I have no musical ability. I consider musical notes to be like the speed limit, someone’s suggestion. However, I have a deep appreciation for songs that unite meaningful lyrics with heart touching melodies to create a form of communication that can convey an emotional statement and circumstance in a way that can be communicated in no other way. In the Broadway musical RENT , the second act opens with the song “Seasons of Love.” It asks the musical question, “How do you measure a year?” In Daylights - In Sunsets - In Midnights - In Cups Of Coffee In Inches - In Miles - In Laughter - In Strife In - Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand Six Hundred Minutes How Do You Measure A Year In The Life? How About Love? In the play, the characters fall in and out of love, celebrate life and mourn death over the course of a single year. What do you plan to do with the next 525,600 minutes of your life? Did you use the last 525,600 minutes anywhere near the way you thought yo

At my CPE site, I am responsible for devotions before our morning reports. I'll be posting them later in each day. On August 1, I drove to Gettysburg to move into my new life. While I was excited and terrified to start a new adventure, I really wanted to see the apartment I would be living in. I knew it wasn’t the type I had requested, but I didn’t know how big (or small) it was. I was moving from a 2 story, 3 bedroom house of over 1200 square feet into a single bedroom apartment. Or so I thought. When I opened the door, my heart sank through my chest, legs, feet, floor and beyond. The dorm room is 16 by 13. My living room is that big. And my living room did not include a refrigerator, bed, desk, stove and dining room table in it. One of the ways that I’ve handled times when I just needed to think, is to get in my car and drive. The hour long drive back to Gettysburg has helped me a lot this summer. When I got into my car and turned it on, I heard the following lyrics. “You can'

I received an email from a member of my candidacy committee asking me how CPE was going. Here is (a slightly edited version of) my response. How is CPE going? That's a loaded question. It is ok. I've learned a lot so far, both about pastoral care and myself. I've confronted several cases that have been very reminiscent of some of the health issues my parents have faced. In all but one case, they have been mental reminders, and not emotional reminders. The one exception was when I was with a family when the patient died. Hearing the tone made by the heart monitor as it flat lined took me back to the day my father died. However, I was able to minister to the family and at that moment, and in the hours following. But once I was finished with them, and was alone, I had a good cry. I am assigned to visit patients who are being cared in the cardiology and trauma follow-up departments. I volunteered for these areas because I wanted to confront the concerns I had about this experie

Kanye West - Diamonds from Sierra Leone I almost forgot that today is the anniversary of the Live8 concerts. While they weren't as memorable as the LiveAid concerts 20 years prior, they did raise attention to the plight of struggling countries and the relative indifference of the G8 leaders.