Posts
Friday, February 12, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Giving up the Good
I met with the person who is the executor of Gary's estate this evening. She has a holographic will that Gary wrote out a few weeks ago. She is also intimately involved with his interfaith ministry and the Shelter I am supposed to take over.
I told her I'm not the person to take over Gary's ministry to the men. I've been involved with them and the ministry for a couple years, but I'm not a "program administrator". After a lot of soul searching I came to the conclusion that I don't have a "passion" for the ministry. It was hard to admit that to myself because Gary wanted me to replace him and it was an honor that he thought so highly of me. But I came to the conclusion that the flattery of being thought highly of and being the right person for a particular ministry are two different things.
I worked with recovering and ex this and thats for over 20 years through my construction company and basically gave it up over a decade ago when I went bankrupt. Its kind of, "Been there, done that and moved on to other things now." While I have experience with addicts and ex-cons, at this point in my life I want to help people as a Christian, but I don't want to do it as a "program". I give alms and help people, but I don't want to be married to it as a "job". I know myself and I am not a "program administrator" nor an "executive director". I don't have and never have had any interest in "alms as programs", paperwork, accounting, schedules, schmoozing, fundraising, newsletters, corporate board meetings and filing cabinets. My gift is sitting down with the men and conducting a recovery meeting or talking to them one on one. I'm not a "leader", I'm an adjunct helper. It is a great opportunity to get out of construction, but as much as construction hurts, I'd do more harm than good to the program and to the men if I took it over even partly just to get out of doing sheetrock pushing sixty years old. The bottom line is, I'd rather lift sheetrock than file a corporate tax return.
So I'm giving up "the good"... hopefully for the sake of doing what is better for the sake of the men and Gary's vision for his program.
I met with the men tonight. I told them this is a sad time for sure. I told them no one can replace Gary in their lives and no one should. I told them I'll be taking care of things for now but there will be a new person taking over the program and when that happens there will probably be some changes. I told them this is still a program for their recovery. Even though Gary is gone they still need to focus on their sobriety, growing in Christ and becoming what Gary wished for them, his death is not an excuse for using or falling off the wagon... the rules of the house are still in effect.
The Executor and the Board will begin the search for a new Director immediately. In the interim I will hold down the fort with the help of a couple of other people who are also familiar with the Shelter.
May it be blessed.
I told her I'm not the person to take over Gary's ministry to the men. I've been involved with them and the ministry for a couple years, but I'm not a "program administrator". After a lot of soul searching I came to the conclusion that I don't have a "passion" for the ministry. It was hard to admit that to myself because Gary wanted me to replace him and it was an honor that he thought so highly of me. But I came to the conclusion that the flattery of being thought highly of and being the right person for a particular ministry are two different things.
I worked with recovering and ex this and thats for over 20 years through my construction company and basically gave it up over a decade ago when I went bankrupt. Its kind of, "Been there, done that and moved on to other things now." While I have experience with addicts and ex-cons, at this point in my life I want to help people as a Christian, but I don't want to do it as a "program". I give alms and help people, but I don't want to be married to it as a "job". I know myself and I am not a "program administrator" nor an "executive director". I don't have and never have had any interest in "alms as programs", paperwork, accounting, schedules, schmoozing, fundraising, newsletters, corporate board meetings and filing cabinets. My gift is sitting down with the men and conducting a recovery meeting or talking to them one on one. I'm not a "leader", I'm an adjunct helper. It is a great opportunity to get out of construction, but as much as construction hurts, I'd do more harm than good to the program and to the men if I took it over even partly just to get out of doing sheetrock pushing sixty years old. The bottom line is, I'd rather lift sheetrock than file a corporate tax return.
So I'm giving up "the good"... hopefully for the sake of doing what is better for the sake of the men and Gary's vision for his program.
I met with the men tonight. I told them this is a sad time for sure. I told them no one can replace Gary in their lives and no one should. I told them I'll be taking care of things for now but there will be a new person taking over the program and when that happens there will probably be some changes. I told them this is still a program for their recovery. Even though Gary is gone they still need to focus on their sobriety, growing in Christ and becoming what Gary wished for them, his death is not an excuse for using or falling off the wagon... the rules of the house are still in effect.
The Executor and the Board will begin the search for a new Director immediately. In the interim I will hold down the fort with the help of a couple of other people who are also familiar with the Shelter.
May it be blessed.
Gary Reposed
The servant of God Gary reposed in the Lord this morning at 4:30am.
I am heading to the Shelter to tell the men. Please pray for them and for me. Gary asked me to take over his ministry when he departed.
May his memory be eternal.
I am heading to the Shelter to tell the men. Please pray for them and for me. Gary asked me to take over his ministry when he departed.
May his memory be eternal.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Monday, February 08, 2010
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Friday, February 05, 2010
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Wanna Talk? A Primer for Wives
Husbands have gotten a bum rap in marriage and pop psych manuals.
Wives want their husbands to talk to them.
Husbands do actually talk, but not like wives think they do, or how wives think they ought.
Do you want a conversation with your man? Before you try to extricate one from him with a woman's crowbar
READ THIS.
Wives want their husbands to talk to them.
Husbands do actually talk, but not like wives think they do, or how wives think they ought.
Do you want a conversation with your man? Before you try to extricate one from him with a woman's crowbar
READ THIS.
Gary Update - Prayers Please
The past few days have been immersed in death. My friend and good client for 15 years, Art Stout passed this life of cancer on Saturday morning. He retired from Intel after 35 years building their fabrication plants all over the world. The next month he found out he had pervasive cancer. He was given six months and made it two years, long enough to build a comfortable house for his wife in a secure, gated community. A few weeks before his death we had long heart to heart about his spiritual life and readiness to stand before God. He went in peace.
Fr. Christo Christoff, a retired Bulgarian priest passed away last night. He (and his wife) were always kind and gracious every time we saw them. They are what every couple could aspire to be in old age. I don't know what his wife will do without him.
My friend Gary is in and out of conciousness now. Fr. Damian and I and Bill Gould baptized, chrismated and communed him Sunday afternoon. Gary wept. I stopped by to see him yesterday after work and he woke up for a few seconds, opened his eyes and whispered, "Steve, my friend, my friend..." then went back to sleep. We will be arranging a 24 hour vigil soon, and members of our Mission will sit and read the Psalter until he passes this life.Please pray for a peaceful, painless ending to the life of another good man.
Fr. Christo Christoff, a retired Bulgarian priest passed away last night. He (and his wife) were always kind and gracious every time we saw them. They are what every couple could aspire to be in old age. I don't know what his wife will do without him.
My friend Gary is in and out of conciousness now. Fr. Damian and I and Bill Gould baptized, chrismated and communed him Sunday afternoon. Gary wept. I stopped by to see him yesterday after work and he woke up for a few seconds, opened his eyes and whispered, "Steve, my friend, my friend..." then went back to sleep. We will be arranging a 24 hour vigil soon, and members of our Mission will sit and read the Psalter until he passes this life.Please pray for a peaceful, painless ending to the life of another good man.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
The Ultimate Blog Compliment
A couple months ago Michal Kalina who is on the staff of the Polish Orthodox website emailed me and asked permission to translate Orthographs into Polish. Between his studies and webmastering he has recently put up a batch of them on their website HERE This is what an Orthograph looks like in Polish.
Test życia duchowego
Wszystkie diagramy są autorstwa Stevena Robinsona
This is about the coolest "comment" I've ever gotten on the blog. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go widen the door to my office so my head will fit through it now.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Orthograph # 32 - The Potter and the Clay
We used to sing a song based on Romans 9:16 "Have Thine own way, Lord, have Thine own way. Thou art the Potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me after Thy will, while I am waiting, yielded and still". I sang it earnestly and sincerely. Sometimes we're surprised that God might take us at our word.
How Big is a Virus?
Check out this illustration. Just slide the bar at the bottom of the drawing and be amazed.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
First Time for Everything
I never get sick. Almost never. I think I had perfect attendance through high school except for one day when I got 4 teeth pulled for my braces. So I go to the doctor once a decade whether I need to or not, just to see if I'm still alive. In the interim, I read the obituaries in the morning paper to see if I'm in them, if I'm not I go to work.
Well, since I've turned 50 I've been to the doctor more times than the rest of my life, partly because I have a wife who wants me around for some reason and insists I get things checked like my blood pressure (it's high), that 6 month old spreading growth on my foot (it wasn't cancer), my "30 years of fast food for lunch cholesterol rating" (it's a tad high, but not worthy of the title "Whopper"), and other various *ahem checks* that I can't illustrate and keep this PG-13.
Yesterday I woke up feeling crappy but went and did an emergency roof repair anyway. By the end of the day my throat was killing me and I was having trouble swallowing. I came home and called the doctor and got a late appointment. Viral something. "Contagious for four days, you'll feel like crap for a week to ten days." No anti-biotics, just OTC stuff and go to bed. The Wifey came home and said, "You went to the doctor on your own?? You MUST be sick!"
So here I am....well, there I go. Off to fill my prescription.
Well, since I've turned 50 I've been to the doctor more times than the rest of my life, partly because I have a wife who wants me around for some reason and insists I get things checked like my blood pressure (it's high), that 6 month old spreading growth on my foot (it wasn't cancer), my "30 years of fast food for lunch cholesterol rating" (it's a tad high, but not worthy of the title "Whopper"), and other various *ahem checks* that I can't illustrate and keep this PG-13.
Yesterday I woke up feeling crappy but went and did an emergency roof repair anyway. By the end of the day my throat was killing me and I was having trouble swallowing. I came home and called the doctor and got a late appointment. Viral something. "Contagious for four days, you'll feel like crap for a week to ten days." No anti-biotics, just OTC stuff and go to bed. The Wifey came home and said, "You went to the doctor on your own?? You MUST be sick!"
So here I am....well, there I go. Off to fill my prescription.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Saturday, January 09, 2010
Friday, January 08, 2010
Beauty Will Save the World: Theophany
The Blessing of the Water, the Blessing of the Earth
A Theophany Meditation by Fr. Antony Hughes
There is a beautiful quote from Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh of blessed memory that goes like this.
"Unless we look at a person and see the beauty there is in this person, we can contribute nothing to him. One does not help a person by discerning what is wrong, what is ugly, what is distorted. Christ looked at everyone he met, at the prostitute, at the thief, and saw the beauty hidden there. Perhaps it was distorted, perhaps damaged, but it was beauty none the less, and what he did was to call out this beauty."
This conveys the meaning of the service of the Great Blessing of the Waters. We are calling out the beauty of the water, of the world and of the whole of creation. This, in fact, is the mission of Holy Orthodoxy, to bring out the beauty in all things, to bless all things and by doing to participate with God synergetically in the recreation of the universe.
We have no time to meditate on darkness or on the evil that lives in this world. That is the work of the devil. We have the heart only to see goodness and to rejoice in it. This is the meaning of the scripture that says, “To the pure all things are pure.” Impure hearts rejoice in darkness. Let that not be so of us.
Let us participate every moment of our lives in the calling out of the beauty of creation, of our neighbors, of our friends and our enemies and yes, even our own beauty. “How glorious is God’s Name above all the earth!”
H/T Allan Boyd
The Holiest House Blessing
...let the demons flee from a house blessed by a pure heart. Can he come bless my house?
H/T: Orthodixie & Byzantine Texas
H/T: Orthodixie & Byzantine Texas
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Right Wing Prof Reposes in the Lord
Fellow Orthodox blogger and commenter here, RightWingProf, reposed in the Lord early this morning after a battle with lung cancer. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.
May his memory be eternal.
May his memory be eternal.
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Monday, January 04, 2010
The Jesus Movies
I couldn't find these in the archives, so I'm re-posting them for James the Thickheaded. I don't know which is campier, the voice overs or the original movie...
Saturday, January 02, 2010
Try to Not Think About This...
...the next time you have a Bishop's visit. (Mitre/Tip to "Bob")
(One of my favorite sayings from MP Jonah is, "You take a man, stand him in the middle of a Church, dress him up like a Byzantine emperor and tell him you want him to live forever... it's no wonder Bishops get screwed up.")
(One of my favorite sayings from MP Jonah is, "You take a man, stand him in the middle of a Church, dress him up like a Byzantine emperor and tell him you want him to live forever... it's no wonder Bishops get screwed up.")
Friday, January 01, 2010
Grandson Meets Moo
I hear tell thar's a Turtle in Phoenix that ain't never been rid yet.... until now.
Old Hippies Live Here
My house is, how do Designers say... Eclectic. My wife has long learned to not even try to imagine what I'm talking about when I describe what I have in mind. Ryan noticed the kitchen cabinets in the background of my video of breadmaking with my Grandson. Here's some more pictures of the kitchen
These are a couple of detail pictures of the cabinet faces.
This is the "Pot Rack". We had one of those plastic lens covered recessed lights in our kitchen ceiling. I took out the plastic lenses, painted the recess red, painted some rebar green and some cattle fencing yellow. I drilled holes in the sides of the recess and put the rebar in then tied the cattle fence to the rebar frame with colored electrician's wire. I put some hooks in the ceiling and suspended "S" hooks with colored wire. Mexican Cantina Pot Rack.
...and the staircase that goes down to my "basement catacomb studio" where all this stuff happens. The carpet was getting really ratty and I was too lazy to tile it and had kitchen paint left over.
These are a couple of detail pictures of the cabinet faces.
This is the "Pot Rack". We had one of those plastic lens covered recessed lights in our kitchen ceiling. I took out the plastic lenses, painted the recess red, painted some rebar green and some cattle fencing yellow. I drilled holes in the sides of the recess and put the rebar in then tied the cattle fence to the rebar frame with colored electrician's wire. I put some hooks in the ceiling and suspended "S" hooks with colored wire. Mexican Cantina Pot Rack.
...and the staircase that goes down to my "basement catacomb studio" where all this stuff happens. The carpet was getting really ratty and I was too lazy to tile it and had kitchen paint left over.
Delight in Destruction
There's something in our human nature that even a two year old delights in the destruction of something someone else has built.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
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