Monday, December 22, 2003
"Loss makes you more unhappy than gain makes you happy."
a bad ending makes the entire play seem worse....
As we get richer, we adapte quickly to our new circumstances.
Our new Lexus quickly becomes as familiar as our old pinto.
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a bad ending makes the entire play seem worse....
As we get richer, we adapte quickly to our new circumstances.
Our new Lexus quickly becomes as familiar as our old pinto.
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From the Episcopal News Service
Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold joined 32 other Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders in announcing a new collaborative effort to mobilize broad public support in the pursuit of peace in the Middle East.
In letters to President George W. Bush and members of the Congress, the religious leaders are calling on the administration to make peace in theMiddle East a high priority, warning that "if the Road Map is allowed
to fail, Israelis and Palestinians will sink even deeper into cycles of violence, jeopardizing the prospect of a two-state solution, escalating regional instability, undermining the global campaign against terrorism, and threatening vital U.S. national security interests."
The religious leaders endorsed four steps that could renew momentum on the Road Map, the Bush administration's incremental peace plan that includes establishing a Palestinian state. First step would be a call for an end to all acts of violence and a renewed effort to work for a ceasefire.
Second, keeping a visibly active special presidential envoy in the region, followed by more specific steps by the Israelis and the Palestinian Authority, with a
timetable and vigorous monitoring. Finally, support for benchmark ideas for possible peace agreements from earlier negotiations and initiatives such as the Geneva Accord, an official plan signed December 1 that is drawing support.
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Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold joined 32 other Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders in announcing a new collaborative effort to mobilize broad public support in the pursuit of peace in the Middle East.
In letters to President George W. Bush and members of the Congress, the religious leaders are calling on the administration to make peace in theMiddle East a high priority, warning that "if the Road Map is allowed
to fail, Israelis and Palestinians will sink even deeper into cycles of violence, jeopardizing the prospect of a two-state solution, escalating regional instability, undermining the global campaign against terrorism, and threatening vital U.S. national security interests."
The religious leaders endorsed four steps that could renew momentum on the Road Map, the Bush administration's incremental peace plan that includes establishing a Palestinian state. First step would be a call for an end to all acts of violence and a renewed effort to work for a ceasefire.
Second, keeping a visibly active special presidential envoy in the region, followed by more specific steps by the Israelis and the Palestinian Authority, with a
timetable and vigorous monitoring. Finally, support for benchmark ideas for possible peace agreements from earlier negotiations and initiatives such as the Geneva Accord, an official plan signed December 1 that is drawing support.
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Saturday, December 13, 2003
Got an unexpected bill for cleaning today. From past practice, I didn't think the cost would be so high.
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Reading a book called Preaching without Notes. I'll probably give ipreaching without notes a try in January.
This week have been planning on how to restart the youth program. Also, the LEM, Calendar and Acolytes will be meeting to prepare for the coming year.
On thursday, worked on the bulletin. Margit will finish the newsletter, and we'll hopefully have it out by Monday. Always a bit late.
I'm taking an Advanced Clinical Education class. My director has said that "I suspect that you're pastoral skills are fine. But now you should focus on administration." So my pastoral care teacher is going to help me work on administrative issues. My first assignment, make a list of all the administration for which I'm responsible. This promises to be very helpful.
Today I worked on all the brochures to put in a format for the webpage. I also did some hunting online for excellent webpages from different parishes. Here are a few:
St. George's,
St. Stephen's, Middlebury VT
Grace, Nyack.
Dreaming abou purchasing Dreamweaver....
I can hear the Westchester Choral Society singing....
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This week have been planning on how to restart the youth program. Also, the LEM, Calendar and Acolytes will be meeting to prepare for the coming year.
On thursday, worked on the bulletin. Margit will finish the newsletter, and we'll hopefully have it out by Monday. Always a bit late.
I'm taking an Advanced Clinical Education class. My director has said that "I suspect that you're pastoral skills are fine. But now you should focus on administration." So my pastoral care teacher is going to help me work on administrative issues. My first assignment, make a list of all the administration for which I'm responsible. This promises to be very helpful.
Today I worked on all the brochures to put in a format for the webpage. I also did some hunting online for excellent webpages from different parishes. Here are a few:
St. George's,
St. Stephen's, Middlebury VT
Grace, Nyack.
Dreaming abou purchasing Dreamweaver....
I can hear the Westchester Choral Society singing....
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Tuesday, December 09, 2003
Today the ECW will be hosting its annual advent tea. Darren Motise, who is a superb organist, will be performing. It's always a very pleasant event. Many people from the community come and visit.
Two years ago they asked me to play violin. They have not asked me since, although they were very polite...
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Two years ago they asked me to play violin. They have not asked me since, although they were very polite...
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Fortunately this never happens at St. Barts [thank you ann]
CHURCH GOSSIP
Sarah, the church gossip and self-appointed arbiter of the church's morals, kept sticking her nose into other people's business. Several residents were unappreciative of her activities, but feared her enough to maintain their silence.
She made a mistake, however, when she accused George, a new member, of being an alcoholic after she saw his pickup truck parked in front of the town's only bar one afternoon. She commented to George and others that everyone seeing it there would know what he was doing.
George, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment and just walked away. He didn't explain, defend, or deny, he said nothing. Later that evening, George quietly parked his pickup in front of Sarah's house.... and left it there all
night.
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CHURCH GOSSIP
Sarah, the church gossip and self-appointed arbiter of the church's morals, kept sticking her nose into other people's business. Several residents were unappreciative of her activities, but feared her enough to maintain their silence.
She made a mistake, however, when she accused George, a new member, of being an alcoholic after she saw his pickup truck parked in front of the town's only bar one afternoon. She commented to George and others that everyone seeing it there would know what he was doing.
George, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment and just walked away. He didn't explain, defend, or deny, he said nothing. Later that evening, George quietly parked his pickup in front of Sarah's house.... and left it there all
night.
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Today sent the newsletter to margit, who has been doing a great job with the design. The organ tuner is here, one of Tim Fink's new hires.
Joanna Depue and I decided to set some tentative dates for the calendar, youth, and LEMs to meet. I figure that we should meet more often, just for less time. By connecting we remind each other we're here - but by limiting the time, we stay focused. I may try to include a quick bible study for each meeting, if possible.
Last night's vestry meeting was very productive: we talked a bit about reparing the windows at 52 Sterling. There is come controversy regarting the expense and necessity. We also discussed the budget for next year. Our treasurer gave us several different options, which included some deficit financing from the endowment. There are a lot of contingencies, and I'm pressing the vestry to be creative - its time to develop some work teams and start from the ground up, rather than from the previous year.
Our endowment allows us some luxury, which spoils us. I said, we might have to actually use the book of common prayer, rather than buy paper. We'll have to do a lot of the cleaning ourselves. It's a big shift for this parish, but something we've got to do. On Sunday, I called and e-mailed several people to bring snowshovels before the service. Melba Thomas remarked today that the walk looked very clean and safe.
My schedule today is very busy. Rotary; then a meeting with a woman who will help us with wedding planning; an openhouse at Manhattanville for the social justice center. Today I'm spending a fair amount of time setting the calendar for January and getting the word out for our Christmas eve services.
then, the annual report for the February meeting.
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Joanna Depue and I decided to set some tentative dates for the calendar, youth, and LEMs to meet. I figure that we should meet more often, just for less time. By connecting we remind each other we're here - but by limiting the time, we stay focused. I may try to include a quick bible study for each meeting, if possible.
Last night's vestry meeting was very productive: we talked a bit about reparing the windows at 52 Sterling. There is come controversy regarting the expense and necessity. We also discussed the budget for next year. Our treasurer gave us several different options, which included some deficit financing from the endowment. There are a lot of contingencies, and I'm pressing the vestry to be creative - its time to develop some work teams and start from the ground up, rather than from the previous year.
Our endowment allows us some luxury, which spoils us. I said, we might have to actually use the book of common prayer, rather than buy paper. We'll have to do a lot of the cleaning ourselves. It's a big shift for this parish, but something we've got to do. On Sunday, I called and e-mailed several people to bring snowshovels before the service. Melba Thomas remarked today that the walk looked very clean and safe.
My schedule today is very busy. Rotary; then a meeting with a woman who will help us with wedding planning; an openhouse at Manhattanville for the social justice center. Today I'm spending a fair amount of time setting the calendar for January and getting the word out for our Christmas eve services.
then, the annual report for the February meeting.
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