I met Fred

Place and Space Central to the biblical story 

Jesus came and pitched his tent in the neighborhood. He was located in a geography that wasn’t incidental to his message or ministry. All of this has changed in modernity, where place is increasingly irrelevant. We even have some gurus telling us that with the Internet place is no longer important—we can meet people anywhere at any time in the virtual world.

Place does matter

Life in the fast lane.

  In that world-view, mobility and anonymity are essential so that individuals can recreate themselves in empty space without accountability or authority. 

Then I met  Fred

His little cardboard message; "Make America  Kind Again"

Place spirituality, on the other hand, helps us recognize that we live in a territory that is full of history, meaning, heartache, and joy. Jesus was incarnate in a concrete time and place in history; he was not an abstract, cultureless being in some kind of spiritual space. And today the Spirit is leading the church back into the neighborhood, into concrete territories to recognize what God is doing there.3

Roxburgh, Alan J.. Introducing the Missional Church (Allelon Missional Series) (pp. 77-78). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

God's Eyes

Luke 4:18

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.

Proverbs 20:12

The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the LORD has made them both.

Exodus 15:2

The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him.

1 Chronicles 16:9

Sing to him; sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!

Matthew 5:14

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

St Andrew's

The Origins of St Andrews  is an interesting story.

St Andrew's began its glorious history in 1894. Five years prior the  Lakeview  Township had been swallowed up by  Chicago's city limits. It was a wild and desolated area with a scatter of small farms popuated by  Irish, German  and Polish farmers. The economy was in a sorry state and streets were populated  with many hungry and homeless souls.  Jobs created by the  chicago Fire of  1871  werelong since depleted.

It was about this time that a determined group of about  35 predominantly Irish families got together in the hope of organising a new parish of their own. Mount  Carmel and Our Lady of Lourdes seemed a great distance afoot, and  nearby  St Alphonsuis was strictly  a German speaking  parish.

Out of these limitations grew an extrordinary  will  to worship a bit closer to home and that brought them to  Archbishop Patrick A. Feehan, armed with a petition signed by 100  future parishoners.  It was not a promising prospect and seemed unlikely that the Archbishop would take such a risk .

 However, the delegation  made a big impression on the Archbishop and he granted their request.

 But they weren't finished with their requisitions. They also wanted to handpick their first pastor, a  Rev Andrew  Croke who was an assistant at  Our Lady of Mt  Carmel.  ( Fr Croke was born in County Tipperary in 1859. He emigrated to  America after his ordination and  was appointed to Our Lady of Mt Carmel. He was 35 years old when he took over duties in St Andrew' Parish)

Without objection Archbishop Feehan named the new  parish St Andrew in honour of Fr Croke whose namesake, andrew the Apostle, was the first to be called by Jesus.

 (Extract from St Andrew Parish  Centennial Book 1894-1994)

Being part of the story:

http://www.standrew.org/bulletin/may-19-2019/

Have a blest day!

Saw  a lovely interaction to begin the day.

 An early morning comuter is making his way to catch a train. With paced step he climbs the steps to the  platform. Then  gives a fleeting  glance  at the other who accidentally  bumps his shoulder ... a mom,   with same focus  coming in the opposite direction  bringing her child to school.

 Their eyes meet in momentary  recognition; they  have  obviously met before ..... "Mornin"!, he whispers  warmly,  but just as quickly  rapid steps have already distanced them.

 Then she turns and calls out "Mornin, You have a blest day.!"

I don't know about the other but it got me thinking and reflecting   and yes, I'm having a 'blest day'.

Thank you stranger.....

A day in the presence of God.

A day with those whom you love.

A day with a prayer and a song.

It's a melody from above.

A day with golden sunshine,

Beaming upon your face,

When the happy sparrows sings

Of God's amaazing grace.

A day of hope and faith

With every joyful sound.

May you have a blessed day.

With peace and love all round.

(Walterrean Salley)

Glory to God for dappled things.

A gentle stroll  along well worn pathways,

Footstep beckons thought down memory lane,

Shrieks of childhood fun, or sweat of farm endevour.

Engrossed,  fond memories guide my way.

Curious cattle line up in guarded honour ,

Butterfly weaves and flaps  in merry play.

Mother  fox  arrests her step in wonder,

briefly stares, and scurries home once more

Nature soothes   if life entangles

Lifts the soul's refreshing prayer,

Scented blooms evoke enchantment

Beckons all Creators way.

Pied Beauty

Gerard Manley Hopkins, 1844 - 1889

 Glory be to God for dappled things—

   For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;

       For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;

Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;

   Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;

       And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;

   Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)

      With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;

He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:

                                     Praise Him.

When clouds come in.

Dont Quit

When Things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and debts are high,
And you want to Smile but have to sigh.
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won if he'd stuck it out,
Don't give up though the pace seems slow,
You might succeed with another blow.

Often the struggler has given up,
When he might captured the victor's cup.
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown,

Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit,
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit
(John Greenleaf Whittier)