The Fifth and Sixth Sundays of Easter

Another Project

Last week I was going through my clothes to get some ready to go to Goodwill and I found an old pair of pajamas made of the lovely material above. After throwing them in the box a couple of times and taking them out - I decided to keep them. I took them apart and cut the fabric into 4 by 4 squares. It was fun to hand stitch the design on the square and I like the way it looks. I'm not sure what I will do with the squares when I finish but it will be fun to do them.

This is the Fifth Sunday of the Easter season. Last week Jesus proclaimed himself as the Good Shepherd and this week Jesus is the "true vine." This would be a common visual for the people of Palestine. In fact all through the Old Testament the people of Israel are referred to as the vine. Israel continues to produce wild grapes and now in this passage Jesus tells us that he is the true vine and we are the branches which will bear the fruit of good works. Being a branch is hard work. Staying connected to the vine is hard work and having all those other branches around me is not easy either.

May 15, 2009 - I'm not sure what happened to the post I started above. It's likely that I got involved in another project and forgot to finish it. The days slip by so quickly and I continue to find that there are not enough hours in each day. I worked on the piece below this morning and I think it is finished. I have been working on it for a couple of weeks. The photo does not do justice to the layers of newspaper, and oriental paper under the angel. I have loved this angel since I cut it off of a card someone sent me (never throw anything away!). I decided to give the angel a home. This is another of my "good news" series.

New Harmony had an arts festival two weekends ago and although it was rainy and cool it was well attended. The artists had their booths set up on a wonderful grassy space on Main Street. Live music was provided by a number of New Harmony's talented folks. On Sunday after church I took my Katie over to have one of our local artists (and member of St. Stephen's) do her portrait. Jill Baker is such a fine artist. Jill has been in New Harmony for about 3 years. This is the portrait of Katie that Jill did:

Katie Scarlett O'Hara Honaker

For those of you who don't know Katie, she is my 11 year old golden retriever. I adopted her when she was 1 year old and she came with the name Katie Scarlett O'Hara. Her brother's name was Casey Rhett Butler! Katie is a dear companion along the way of life and I am thrilled to have his portrait of her.

I am preaching about loving one another on this coming Sunday. The title of my sermon is "Loving One Another 101." I wanted to title it "Loving One Another for Dummies" but was afraid I would offend folks. In truth we are all "dummies" when it comes to loving each other. I find my own heart betrays me all the time in this task. I judge the motives of others when I have no right to do so. Last week's epistle (1 John 4:7-21) has for me one of the most evocative verses in scripture: "We love because he (God) first loved us." (vs 19) I don't love my brother or sister because they are lovable... I don't love my parishioners because they love me... I don't even love my family because they are my family... I love others because I have been loved by One who knows me through and through (and still loves me). If God can love me then I can love others. It seems like such a no-brainer, but I struggle so against this call to love...

New Harmony Iris

The Irises have been spectacular this year in New Harmony. My backyard is literally "abloom" with irises and roses. It must be the enormous amounts of rain that we have had. I only wish we could figure out how to have flowers in abundance without the abundant mosquitoes...