The Practical Parson

 Recently I have seen some clergy of different churches demanding that the church as a whole "modernize and cast aside outdated theological and sexual ideas".   They insist that the church needs to set aside any and all teachings, theological interpretations, and traditions which could be seen as even remotely "non-inclusive" of the Alphabet community (LGBT... and whatever the hell acronym they're adding this week).  Some going so far as to say that 'queer people should lead the way to showing the church how to love one's neighbor'.    First and foremost, the church does not exist for any age in particular; as she exists in and for ALL ages, times, and places.  So to say that the church needs to 'modernize' in order to better suit modern man, is no less than to say that what was good enough for millions of saints and blessed ones and even our own Savior; is no longer good enough for us.  The hubris of making demands of a gift that God himself...

 Today is Ash Wednesday, and the Christian world (especially here in the states) is plagued by a relatively recent innovation in church 'services' called affectionately by its proponents- "ashes to go".   I'll let the reader soak that in for a minute.   Yes, clergy will stand on street corners throughout the nation to administer ashes to people who happen by and want to receive them.  Many have argued that this extends the Christian message and Lenten observance to more and more people, but does it really?   Or does it rather cheapen the sign and symbol of what those precious ashes actually represent? The ashes we receive today are taken from burning the palms we blessed the previous Palm Sunday.  In that, they symbolize both the mortality of humanity's actions; as well as how quickly our voices of praise and celebration can turn to dust and be lost to the winds of time.  How loudly we exclaimed "Hosanna" to the savior, only to turn our ...

 I do not wish to brag, but the story made me smile- I had lunch with God today, I hadn’t seen him in a while. I was shopping out in town, and it didn’t cross my mind, I looked over to one side, and saw him in a bind. He’d been riding his bike all morning, and he was tired and hungry, So I sat down beside him, and asked “will you share lunch with me?” He smiled and said yes, so I brought out the food, Sandwiches and bottled drinks; simple, but it tasted good. We talked about the town, where we had both grown up; While busy shoppers, christians some, passed by with noses up. We sat and spoke a while about the world and people in it, While sharing food, which simple though, was more than most would give him. We finished lunch and parted ways, I bade him “God be with you”, But while I sat and shared my lunch, it was me God had been with too. Matthew 25:34-40