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The Emblem and the Shield
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August 1, 2010
by Terry Swanson
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The other day I was cleaning the bookshelf over my desk – something I avoid as religiously as possible –when I found a book I'd long forgotten about. Actually it's been there since Karen Voss gave it to me a couple of years ago. At that time I said, "Thanks" and promptly put it on the shelf. Well, the other day I had two options 1) continue dusting or 2) peruse the book. Well, no question about what I
chose. And I'm so glad I did.
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Italy Experiences
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July 1, 2010
by Terry Swanson
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Ciao from Sorrento, Italy. It’s pretty neat to be sitting on the balcony of my hotel room, looking out over the bluest ocean ever and writing for friends in Iowa. We only have a few days left in Italy, but what a wonderful trip it has been. Harry and I are here with my son, wife, and grandson, Anna and her significant other; and Amy. Also with us are my brother Peter’s children and grandchildren.
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Pentecost Means Sharing Jesus' Love
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June 1, 2010
by Terry Swanson
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I'm not much into pop culture. I don't go to many movies; I watch replays, not new, on television; and my favorite music is made by Peter, Paul, and Mary. So I surprised myself a little by reading an article by Jennifer Knapp. She is a Christian music artist who has recently returned to music after a seven year hiatus during which she revealed that she has been in a same-sex relationship for the past eight years.
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Spring-May-Pentecost
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May 1, 2010
by Terry Swanson
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Spring's here. May's coming. It's hard to think about May without talking about Pentecost. Following Christ is a hard act but being part of a liturgical church helps us to focus on all he asks of us. It's what we do as Christians. We do Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Pentecost. Pentecost, from the Greek pentedost, means fiftieth. Fiftieth what? Well it's 50 days after Easter, which for the early Jew/
Christians was especially related to Passover. And as early holidays would have it, 50 days after Passover was the Jewish feast of Shabuoth, also called Pentecost.
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What Was It Like That Morning?
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April 1, 2010
by Terry Swanson
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By the time many of you get around to reading this, Easter will be over, won't it? GOTCHA! I certainly hope you get around to reading this sometime in the next seven weeks! And the first thing we know is that the Easter season isn't just one day or week but a whole 50-day period ending on Pentacost (the 50th day.) which is May 23rd this year. Unfortunately lots of folks do seem to think Easter: eggs, hats, church, brunch, egg salad and moving right along.
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Bits and Pieces 1
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March 1, 2010
by Terry Swanson
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Lent seems to have snuck up on me early this year. It seems like it shouldn't start for another week or so. I've got to get that out of my head and catch up with the calendar. As I always do during Lent, I try to add something to my daily activities that remind me that, indeed, this is a special time and I should behave in a special way. Lent is forty days long so if I pick 10 activities and devote 3-5 days to each, I'll have filled a personal devotional. Sometimes I get confused with myself because it seems like the activities I've chosen are things I should do anyway. You know, like, "I'll clean out each of the clothes closets and take all the items I haven't worn for two years to CFIDVS or Good Will." Well that's noble but is it a Lenten devotion? It's difficult, isn't it? Maybe if I combine the cleaning with prayers of thanksgiving for all my blessings?. . .
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Why was Christ Baptized?
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February 12, 2010
by Terry Swanson
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We had an especially nice service this morning at 8 o'clock. We had a baptism, not something we often have so early in the morning. And it was different from most of our baptisms because it was not a child but a grown – a senior – man. It was timely because the Gospel that day was Luke 15-16:
The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ. John answered them all, "I baptize you with[ water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
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Let's Make it a Happy New Year
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January 11, 2010
by Terry Swanson
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Well by now you’ve all had a chance to review St. Tim’s 2010 budget. Yuck! As things stand we will have to face the fact that we will lose Elizabeth next summer. We don’t want to do that! She is a vital part of our ministry team and is responsible for several programs - programs that will wither and die; programs that touch us all in different ways.
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A Few Thoughts About Gifts
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December 10, 2009
by Terry Swanson
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From The Whisper of Christmas By Joe E. Pennel, Jr., p. 61
"There is no evidence of any kind regarding the date of Jesus’ birth. His nativity began to be celebrated on Dec. 25 in Rome during the early part of the fourth century (AD 336) as a Christian counterpart to the pagan festival, popular among the worshipers of Mithras, called Sol Invictis, the Unconquerable Sun. At the very moment when the days are the shortest and darkness seems to have conquered light, the sun passes its nadir. Days grow longer, and although the cold will only increase for quite a long time, the ultimate conquest of winter is sure. This astronomical process is a parable of the career of the Incarnate One. At the moment when history is blackest, and in the least expected and obvious place, the Son of God is born…"
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Let's Get Ready for the New Year
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November 9, 2009
by Terry Swanson
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Well Consecration Sunday is over – though I'm writing this before the event to be able to reach the St. Timothean deadline. I was sick last Sunday so I didn't get to the town meeting but I did get detailed copies of the budget. Though the vestry has done a great job of trying to fund St. Tim's for us, it's scary to have such a deficit budget.
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Returning Thanks
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September 29, 2009
by Terry Swanson
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October, a month of many faces: Sometimes we see hot, humid summer-like days; sometimes we suffer through freezing rain and snow. Life in Iowa is wonderful. One stable thing, though, is that for us at St. Timothy's it is time to think about Consecration Sunday - though I still think about it as the annual stewardship drive.
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So, What About Grace?
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September 3, 2009
by Terry Swanson
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"There, but for the grace of God, go I." I can't count the number of times I've said that in my lifetime. I guess I thought it meant that something bad had happened to someone else because he wasn't covered by God's grace and that, though I had been in a similar situation, it hadn't happened to me because I was. Or maybe I thought I was just luckier than the other guy. Either way, it wasn't very clear thinking.
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Unsolicited Acts of Kindness
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August 5, 2009
by Terry Swanson
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I don't know why for sure, but, even though I suffered through the worst cold/flu I've had in many a year, it's been kind of a euphoric month. I have seen so many "unsolicited acts of kindness." Maybe they are around all the time but this month seemed especially blessed.
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Forgiveness
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July 15, 2009
by Terry Swanson
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We had a great experience yesterday. We had an opportunity to visit the Great Ape Trust of Iowa. The Trust is a research center that provides sanctuary for, studies the intelligence of, advances the conservation of, and provides educational experiences about great apes. The science of the Great Ape Trust seeks to understand the origins and future of culture, language, tool use, and intelligence. We saw orangutans and bonobos. Though they were caged, the cages were built to mimic the apes living environment.
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History of Christianity Timeline
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June 2, 2009
by Terry Swanson
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Last month we learned a bit about Pentecost and that it is our responsibility as Christians to share our Good News. I thought a good way to begin understanding that responsibility was to learn a little about our history as Christians and Episcopalians so we could better understand how to share our story.
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From Easter to Pentecost
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May 20, 2009
by Terry Swanson
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The Yaquis in Arizona are members of a Mexican Indian tribe that moved north to escape slavery and illnesses. They were converted to Catholicism by Jesuits in the 1500s, and the priests very wisely let the Yaquis integrate their own beliefs of the wonders of nature into Christian practices – sort of an early version of Cool Congregations. Over the years these Yaqui/Catholic expressions became more and more stylized until now the Yaquis, like many Christians, see Easter as the highlight of their spiritual year. The dances are the providence of the Yaqui men who dedicate their lives for various lengths of time to one of several societies devoted to Jesus or the Virgin Mary.
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Passover and the Seder Meal
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March 27, 2009
by Terry Swanson
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She also told me that Zeide (Grandfather) who immigrated to the U.S. from Russia, told her there were different Seders (Passover meals) depending on where you were from and which branch of Judaism you belonged to. He also told her that Seders evolved over the years and that in one way or another Passover had been celebrated since hundreds of years before Christ.
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Birds, Religious Diversity, and Lent
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March 2, 2009
by Terry Swanson
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Over the years, I've looked at Lent lots of different ways. I've given up things for Lent, sometimes things I should have given up just because of their nature, like smoking. Other times, I've tried to "do good " things during Lent. Other years I did more inspirational reading. Other years, I have followed the fasting rules set out by the church. And you know what, except for giving up cigarettes and chocolates, they were pretty good Lenten disciplines.
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The Doves and the Peregrine and Me
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January 28, 2009
by Terry Swanson
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"His Eye is on the Sparrow, and I Know He Watches Me" - that line from the song has been in my thoughts lately. It's a lovely sentiment but a little overly romantic I think. Right now I'm leaning toward my mother's favorite admonition, "God helps those who help themselves." I've also been thinking a lot about birds lately as we've been watching a birdland drama unfold out our back window. Now remember we live in the middle of Clive with a typically small city lot. Our backyard is somewhat bigger than a handkerchief but that's about all I can say regarding its size.
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Happy 2009
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December 30, 2008
by Terry Swanson
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Someone told me that time is indeed relative and the older you get the faster it passes. It sure seems that way, here it is 2009 already and it seems like just a bit ago we were worried about the new millennium.
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Happy New Church Year
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December 1, 2008
by Terry Swanson
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Here we are getting ready for the first Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the liturgical year. The best way to look at the liturgical year is a circle but the graphic took up too much space. I used to teach high school math so I thought the (number) line would work almost as well.
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Thoughts on Thanksgiving
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October 15, 2008
by Terry Swanson
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Thanksgiving: turkeys, pumpkins, cranberries, or Thanksgiving: Eucharist from the Greek word for thanksgiving. Thanksgiving, once a year; The Great Thanksgiving, at least once a week; thanksgiving, every day. That's one way to think about it.
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Fall is Falling
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September 25, 2008
by Terry Swanson
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". . .To bear witness to him . . . according to the gifts given them . . ." What a nice lead in to that fall celebration, Consecration Sunday. Read more.
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The 14th Lambeth Conference
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August 27, 2008
by Terry Swanson
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Last month I wrote about the Lambeth Conferences that have taken place over the last several decades and said that this month I would write about the most recent one. Wow! Depending on whose web site I read or whose report I tried to read I couldn't always decipher the messages they were trying to send.
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Lambeth Conferences
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August 5, 2008
by Terry Swanson
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The Lambeth Conferences are assemblies of bishops of the Anglican Communion which are usually convened every 10 years by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The first one took place in 1867. . . It's pretty interesting to read about the issues addressed at some of the early conferences and then how many of them were re-addressed with different conclusions a decade or two later.
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Talking Episcopalian
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July 6, 2008
by Terry Swanson
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Summer is a time we often vacation and visit other Episcopal Churches so I thought it might be good to refresh ourselves with terms that we, as Episcopalians, hear in and around our churches.
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Why I'm a St. Timothean
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May 28, 2008
by Terry Swanson
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I thought it might be interesting to find out why folks attend St. Timothy's so I ask the people at Geodes to tell me why they joined and/or stay here instead of one of the other Episcopal churches in town.
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Anglican Prayer Beads
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April 24, 2008
by Terry Swanson
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Anglican Prayer Beads are a relatively new form of prayer, blending the Orthodox Jesus Prayer Rope and the Roman Catholic Rosary.
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About Prayer Beads
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April 13, 2008
by Terry Swanson
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Being raised RC, I was familiar with the Rosary and still find it comforting. At the time, I thought about finding out more about Anglican prayer beads but the idea sort of slipped away . . .
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Early Lent
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February 8, 2008
by Terry Swanson
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So what's the lenten period all about? Here's one writer's thoughts.
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