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September 11th……..

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Today our great nation takes pause to remember the events of September 11, 2001. Though it was the worst attack ever to take place upon American soil, it also was a day upon which many brave men and women stepped forward in faith displaying bravery and character truly only found within the American Spirit. Many innocent souls went to meet their Maker on that very day, while many more were called by God and Country to step forth in service, and did. It was a day like no other in our history, and the genesis of an era like no other either.

On this day we pray for our country and for the freedom we enjoy. We pray for those who have lost their lives, for those still dealing with the effects of 9/11 and of war, and for those who on our behalf have gone into harm’s way…..may the Good Lord be with them all.

I am so very thankful and proud to be an American, and I hope you are too. Let us pray that we never have to endure another attack like 9-11, and let us also pray for the safety and security of all our troops both here and abroad.

May God bless the United States of America…..the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave!

Fr. Tom+

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Living those Guy Lafleur dreams……..

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Oh yes….the cooler the better! Though I love the warm weather, nights like these make it very clear that I am a Northerner at heart! I do not mind the cold, and there is no better feeling at all to me than to be out on an ice rink gliding around with the cool wind in my face. I am certain this blog is going to lead me to the rink either this Friday or Saturday too.

I suppose we all have things that bring us great joy. For me, among other things, it’s my faith, my family, our dogs, my wonderful gray and white domestic mountain lion (she is diluted…she’s really just a little cat) and of course my love of ice skating. It’s 55 right now on the back porch with a little wind, and as it hit me, skating was the first thing that came to my mind.

When I skate I feel free and very close to God. The aches and pains of my body and the stiffness that always plagues me all seem to disappear, and I just glide across the ice. Of course being a middle-aged man helps. I still skate better than I walk, but the fact that there are not five guys with sticks looking to knock me down anymore makes it a lot smoother, and more of a pleasurable skate! Don’t get me wrong, I miss the contact and competitiveness of my youth, but as I skate, I now seem to remember only the victories, and the good times! And as I glide across the ice, my mind goes to the things I am blessed with in this life! There is a real sense of peace and joy. It is something I wish everyone had, yet I must confess, it is something I do not take time for enough anymore. I do however, intend to change that by the weekend!

I may have lost a bit of my mind post-stroke, but as I am dealing with it what I have discovered is that God is deepening other parts of me. I seem to struggle with complex thought, and particularly numbers, and even short-term memory, but I now notice much more depth in the world around me. My patience is a lot shorter, yet things seem to have more meaning. And yes, I know you are worried, but my sense of humor took no hits at all, because I am truly convinced I am six inches taller and ten years younger than I was in March….yep, 6’3″ and 28!

Where I come from there is an expression, “you play the hand you are dealt.” Really you can do no more. I do not have a hand of two’s and three’s though……my hand is pretty good. And I need not bluff my way through life because I know I am truly blessed.

I have met a lot of clergy in my time who I have thought were totally delusional, and I suppose some may think that about me. But I can walk and talk, I have a great faith, a great family, and good friends (we cannot all be great). I get confused, but can still do more than most. And for a stroke patient, I am living the rock star life. I KNOW I am blessed, and I intend to make the most of it.

I will continue to make the most of each day, playing that hand the best that I can, and I hope you do the same. We are all given a lot of opportunities every day, and all of them are gifts from God. I encourage you to join me, and lets make the best of all of them! Life is to short to do anything less. And God’s hope for us all is that we would live each day to its fullest!

Goodnight my friends and God bless! Come join me this weekend at Church AND at the rink!

Fr. Tom+

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The perfect way to ponder what we are made for…….

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It’s 59 degrees tonight out here on the back porch, and Puddy and I enjoying the evening. For me it is perfect, for her the colder temperature has cut down significantly on her prey. But tonight neither of us is complaining. The moon is out, the sky is clear, and the end of this day has all the makings of a perfect night.

As I sit here tonight and reflect, I am struck at how very far we have come in such a short period of time. In just 20 short months, St. Michael the Archangel has grown from literally nothing to four operating missions, and three more in the planning stages. At the start we were just a handful of people, served by one deacon and one priest. We now have six clergy, three priests and three deacons. We were not intending to grow into all this, yet the Lord’s Vision was larger than ours. We have been blessed and are successful, not because we had some fancy business plan, but because we were faithful.

Indianapolis, Bloomington, and Muncie are next! (My peaceful night is turning exciting!) I am so very thankful for all that has been set before us (and yes, that means set before you as well). Our lives are all to have meaning and purpose. What better way to find yours than to faithfully serve the very One who gives you life?

Come join us for Church and for life!

God bless!

Tom+

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Of zombies and the apparent treatment I am on……..

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I know studies have shown that we sleep a pretty high proportion of our lives away. But after the past few days I am hoping no one ever studies me. My post-stroke body sometimes just shuts down and sleep is about all I can do. My percentage may be pretty high!!

Fr. Sean called me tonight and I spoke with him about it. It was late and I had been awake only a few hours. I know it is probably hard for a young guy to understand that, but I know even six months ago, it would be hard for me to understand as well. It really doesn’t matter, it doesn’t change a thing. When my body shuts down, it just shuts down. And to this point I am thankful that it has not ever happened on a day I have to work!

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. After all if all this sleep doesn’t make Tuesday easier, than I do not know what will. I do apologize for the lack of anything other than a report though. I really cannot do much more……one of the side-effects of these sleep days is that any and all time I am awake I am nothing more than a zombie……and as we all know, zombies don’t write good, I mean well.

Look for a well rested and amazingly inspirational me tomorrow…..or at least the well rested me.

God bless!

Tom+

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More revealing than what most may want to Bear……..

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What a glorious day! Despite just four hours sleep, I started the day in Nashville, and then met up with 58 other excited people to launch the first worship service of St. Paul’s in Greenfield! It was such a blessing to be a part of such a powerful and moving event!!

By the time we left Greenfield however, I was in real need of sleep. Ben slept in the car, so of course that meant that he was wide awake when we got home. We tried to put him down, and even tried sleeping with him, but he sees me quite often as a jungle gym, and today it was a jungle gym he hadn’t played on in days since I had been out of town! So I am totally exhausted, especially since I had to stay awake to watch the game.

And for those of you checking in to see if I will gloat, think again. Though I have been teased mercilessly about the Indianapolis Colts beating my (and God’s) favorite team, the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl a couple of years ago, I will not take any revenge. No, I am not afraid of the three other Colts fans I live with (Ben likes the Bears), I just enjoyed watching the game. It reminded me of watching the Bears with my grandfather every week growing up. They played like the used to (which makes me yell at the TV a lot less) but the whole thing brought back some very special memories.

Of course now, nothing is in the way of my sleep but finishing up this, but I did want to share. Today has been a day of tremendous blessing, like a great big ice cream Sunday. And now to finally get to sleep at its end, is like the cherry right on the top!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tom+

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A great excuse to be short……..

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It’s midnight on Saturday and I am just getting home from a long day of meetings and travel. Since I am getting up in just four hours to polish up my sermon and then head to Nashville for a 9am service, I thought I would just pop in and ask for your prayers for me tomorrow. Today, and even the last few days, though productive, were extremely challenging. And though I apparently have survived them since I do think at least that I am home, tomorrow with the 9am in Nashville and the launch of St. Paul’s Greenfield at 1:00pm will take a lot out of me. It concerns me in that I feel way beyond my limit now. Hopefully, with God’s help, all will work out the way He wants it too.

Anyway, all this is to say I am going to just post this cheap excuse tonight and head to bed. God Bless you my friends. It is so great to be back home again in Indiana! Come join us tomorrow in Greenfield if you can. I will be the one sleeping through my own sermon!

Fr. Tom+

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Of the blessings of conflict and change…….

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I have spent the entire day in a meeting, and Lord knows I am tired. It has been well worth it to me though. I have been around some very strong and committed Christians whom I admire very much for both their courage and their witness in faith. It is a remarkable contrast to the majority of my ordained ministry where many of the people (even clergy) seemed more universalist than Christian, and where every move seemed calculated rather than courageous. I used to share how we as Americans really didn’t have to risk much to live our faith, but now, in this new paradigm, that is no longer true. I have spent the day among some very real saints of God, and for it, and for their witness, I am thankful.

I do miss home though. I miss my family, my back porch, my bed, and even the cat. I will be there tomorrow, but with a lot yet to go here, somehow that seems so far away. God willing however, tomorrow’s blog will be written in Indiana, and my life will return to normal. You have no idea how hard it is for me to be in a place without my wife……..I have no idea anymore when I am wrong!

I have been struck here by how the Lord brings people in and out of our lives at different times and for different purposes. Some of the people here I have worked with before. Others I have heard of and know their work. (Being as important as I am, I am sure that few had any clue to who I was!) But my point is that Lord is, as always, in control. His purposes are revealed to us as we come to Him in faith. As Anglicanism has exploded over these past few years, He has raised many a good Christian up to meet these new challenges, showing us that the direction we are heading now is far better than had it not exploded at all. Through conflict and change, the Lord is doing a new thing! And though it has been a challenge, I believe we are all blessed through it…..at least I believe I have been. I feel blessed and more alive each day!

As the Scripture says, “Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever.” Amen.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Fr. Tom+

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The work of recovery across the miles……

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I am writing this blog from my hotel room in Overland Park, Kansas where I am attending a meeting that will end on Saturday. It has been a long day and one full of many challenges. In the controlled world of my everyday life I am not presented with this much stimuli. And since I am traveling alone, all the decisions are mine to make. I have been in two airports, found my bag, got my rental car, drove the 40 miles to the hotel, and felt it was a MAJOR victory in terms of what I thought I could do! I was so happy I did so well.

Of course on the flip side, I forgot LOTS of stuff (since I packed myself) and I had to make two trips to the Wal-Mart. And even with a list the second time, the stress of my forgetfulness made me forget to read the list!!! Yikes! I am sure all the people gathered from all over the country for this meeting may wonder why in the world I was ever asked to come!!! But at least I now have a toothbrush and socks, so everything will be okay. And if they do wonder, the blessing of my brain is that I may just forget it anyway!

I know my recovery often inches its way into these blogs, but it is partially because Amanda and I agreed that the blog itself would be helpful to me, as my honesty about my struggles may be helpful to you. What I can say through all of it though is that one of its biggest blessings has been my lack of forgetfulness about my faith. My faith has not wavered in all of this, but rather, it’s been strengthened. And if I were ever given the choice between having trouble with numbers or stuttering verses struggling or forgetting parts of my faith, the choice would be so easy. I have been blessed, for the Lord has never left me. He has sustained me and inspired me, and though I may not be all that I was, the truth is I can always find someone to do the math for me! (Thank God…..!!)

Keep my family in your prayers while I am gone. I am sure they suffer and cry and are miserable without me around (Steph actually told me that they went out to eat and were having a blast….but she lies!) But truthfully, please keep me in them. Today is the first day of a big test for me, and so far so good. I have my sermon done for Sunday morning in Nashville, and will hopefully finish the one I am working on for the launching of St. Paul’s Greenfield by tomorrow night. I just don’t want to get too tired, especially when I am in Kansas and alone!

And to make sure I have the best opportunity to do well tomorrow it is off to bed for me! Thanks though for checking in! Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Fr. Tom+

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Not quite the Partridge Family, but at least we are faithful……..

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Tonight Puddy and I once again are out on the back porch, this time not listening to K-Love, but to specific music that I enjoy singing to on Youtube. Music is an important part of my life, and it often lifts me up or centers me in times when I need both. Tonight I have been listening and singing to “Days of Elijah” and a few other tunes. I enjoy all types of music but to sing, I particularly like contemporary Christian and praise music.

Ironically, I am not the musician in my family…everyone else is. I play no instruments at all, whereas Scotty plays everything……..guitar, piano, drums, and trumpet. Steph is an excellent guitarist and pianist. Amanda could play a saxophone if you put it in her hands, and Ben pounds on his highchair (and tries to hit his siblings guitars)! All I have is my voice.

Oddly enough, I have spent my entire life shunning even that. I remember in 8th grade my music teacher, Mrs. Guard, calling me “the boy with the golden voice.” Yet I thought it was “uncool” to sing, and made sure everyone knew I was an ice hockey player……singing just seemed so weak. I was put into Cadet Choir in my sophomore year against my will and I complained as if they were cutting off my arm. I was the grandson of an accomplished bass singer, and my great grandfather an accomplished chello player, yet to me singing just not the image I wanted as a tough young high school boy.

In truth, I never gave it up, though my taking it on myself took me far from having a golden voice. I am now more honestly labeled the “middle-aged man with the mediocre voice,” but I enjoy it nonetheless. Music is still with me, it’s just now with me with many deep regrets.

I am reminded each day however, that it is never too late to begin anew. In fact, the Lord gives us opportunity to do so every day….okay, in truth every moment, even now. I may never recover that golden voice, but it shouldn’t stop me from making a “joyful noise” to the Lord. And if I never take it any further, at least it serves me well.

It has been a good night….full of music, or fond memories, of joy and of hope for the future. Scotty and Steph, and even Amanda joined me mid-blog, with two guitars, no saxophones, and lots of fun…praise God!

I best get to bed while I am way ahead! Goodnight my friends and God Bless! I hope your day was every bit as good, if not better than mine!

Fr. Tom+

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HELP from Amanda again…..

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I have started to study the concept of prayer more deeply because I really feel the Lord is nudging me to understand it more clearly. I was trying to figure out why I don’t pray as I should. I started out with the standard list of excuses…I don’t have time, I don’t know how, I don’t know what to pray about…..blah, blah, blah. But when I moved past the basic reasons, I found out the true barrier that is in my way. My current “prayer life” is a beggar’s life. I have resisted prayer, because I feel like I am begging God, and it doesn’t feel good to me.

When prayers are just a list of everything you want God to do for you, it is easy to see why we might not feel complete or satisfied with our prayer life! It lacks passion! It lacks depth and personal meaning! And most of all, it lacks humility. This is usually how it goes…..please help me with this; or give me that; or I need this. Of course that feels empty! When I figure this out, it was what I call my “spiritual DUH!”.

I have read a lot lately on the topic of praying, and there are lots of perspectives to consider. But here is the cliff notes version I have stuck with…..a rich and powerful prayer life is a direct outcome of a deep relationship with God. And a deep relationship with God is a direct outcome of a rich and powerful prayer life. Doesn’t it remind you of the conundrum, which came first, the chicken or the egg?”
So the key is to start! I decided to spend an entire week not praying for anything but thanksgiving. No “I need this” or “please help me with something”….just good, old fashioned THANK YOU. And if you can’t find enough to be thankful for that fills up all the prayer time in a week….look again. I promise you there is more than enough to be thankful. It should come as no surprise, this prayer time felt better, deeper and more personal.

In Ephesians 1:16, it reads “I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” Even though this passage is from a letter written by Paul to the Ephesians, I see this as my prayer goal….to remember to give thanks first and foremost in my prayers to God. God bless!

Amanda