Celtic Odyssey

As some of you know, I am a Geek. I own my own computer consulting business and last night was a special treat. One of my clients asked me to accompany her to purchase a new computer. And not just any computer. A brand-spanking new iMac. In case you don't know, the iMac is made by Apple Inc. It is a all-in-one design that is beautiful as well as practical. It comes in either a 20" or 24" model. My client opted for the 20" model (after much discussion). Here are the other hardware specs: 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 1GB memory 320GB SATA hard drive 8x double-layer SuperDrive ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256MB memory AirPort Extreme (802.11n wifi) Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR Apple Keyboard Apple Remote Mighty Mouse Each model comes with an iSight camera (for video chat), SuperDrive (DVD burner), Mac OS X (of course), and iLife (Apple's multimedia suite), just to mention a few. She also purchased an Airport Extreme wireless base station. As noted, th...

A reading from the First Letter to the Corinthians by Clement, Bishop of Rome [c. 100] Beloved, see what a marvelous thing love is, its perfection is beyond our expression.  Who can truly love save those to whom God grants it?  We ought to beg and beseech him in his mercy that our love may be genuine, unmarred by any too human inclination.  From Adam down to the present time all generations have passed away; but those who were perfected in love by God’s grace have a place among the saints who will be revealed when the kingdom of Christ comes to us.  As it is written: ‘Enter your chambers for a little while, until my wrath and anger pass away; and I shall remember a good day and raise you from your graves.’  We are blessed, beloved, if we fulfill the commands of the Lord in harmonious, loving union, so that through love our sins may be forgiven.  For it is written: ‘Blessed are those whose transgression are forgiven, whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the one to whom the Lord imputes n...

The heart of a daughter is a precious and fragile thing. And yet, it is the most resilient Juggernaut of all hearts. I see in the brokenness of my daughter's heart, my heart. It is my belief that every Father's heart grows with the breaking of his daughter's heart. Not that it doesn't grow at other times, but when a daughter's heart is breaking and broken, the swell of love and compassion is unspeakable. It almost becomes a mother's heart. Almost. The Father's heart is a strange thing. At times, it must be 'tough' at the expense of being compassionate. But even in that toughness, the compassion runs through. In the quiet moments, the compassion demands to be heard. The toughness runs like a scared child and the compassion, with groans that cannot be understood, comes rushing forward. It is almost like birth pangs. Almost. It's times like these I question. I question God and Love and all that makes me a Christian. Not to the point of...

Then, turning to his disciples, Jesus said, “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear. For life is more than food, and your body more than clothing. Look at the ravens. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds! Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And if worry can’t accomplish a little thing like that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things?“Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? “And don’t be concerned about what to eat and what to drink. Don’t worry about such things. These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the w...

While preparing for the Men's Bible Study at St John's, I had an illumination that I want to share with you.  In reading the Gospel lesson, I read this verse: Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.  Luke 12.31. What does Jesus mean by the 'Kingdom (or rule) of God'?  The context seems to tell what it's not.  It is not food or drink or clothing or shelter or other material 'comforts' in this life.  Jesus said that those things 'dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world' but we shouldn't be concerned about them.  Instead, we are to 'seek the Kingdom of God'.  Why do you suppose it is that we can't find a chapter and verse telling us exactly what that phrase means?  What we find, like in this passage, is what the Kingdom of God is not .  Perhaps that is part of the point.  Perhaps we have to continually seek God to determine what that means in our lives.  And when we see things th...

Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead. As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things. Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” Mark 8.22-33. This was the Gospel reading for this morning.  It reminds me of a discussion I had recently with a friend of mine regarding the doctrines of predestination and 'free will'.  There could be a bunch of passages sited on both sides of this debate.  But to me, it all boils down to both sides just seeing one point of view.  Or, perhaps, placing a stronger emphasis on one over the other.  That debate alone is a prime example of the ...

Over the past few days, I have had a great opportunity to talk to different people about Bible translations. The first discussion came with my Daughters return from Church Camp. She had been invited the past few years by her best friend and her boyfriend. Well, she went this year and just got back last Friday. Anyway, she took my small New Living Translation with her (her copy is a hardback and a little bigger). When she got back she said that some people didn't like her Bible mostly because that it wasn't formal enough. Yep. You guessed it. They mostly used the King James Version. Which, once you think about it, it's kind of funny. For those of you who don't know, the KJV was produced for the Church of England, the Anglican Church, or the Episcopal Church of the United States of America. Just check out the preface sometime. The reason it's funny is this wasn't an Episcopal church camp. Well, I guess it's funny to me. Anyway, after we talked abo...