A View From The Earth

This is the sermon I gave at Church of the Saviour Episcopal Church in Clermont, Iowa on August 24, 2008. The question I asked was: Who is Jesus? In todays readings names have a central role. In the reading from Exodus, the story is about how the descendants of Jacob become the twelve tribes of Israel and how they become enslaved to the Egyptians. One of those descendants is a baby boy who is put in a basket by his mother so he escapes death by the hands of the Egyptians. Well, the little one is found by none other than the daughter of Pharaoh, who will raise him as her child, and she names him Moses because she “drew him out of the water”. The name Moses is very significant because it is a royal Egyptian name, the names of the Pharaohs themselves often have Moses as part of their name because the Pharaohs were considered gods and their power as a god came from the Nile river, from the water. Without the water of the Nile, Egypt would cease to exist. So it is very significant...

In my travels yesterday, I happened to drive by St. James Episcopal Church in Independence, Iowa. I noticed a sign saying that they had a computer center with free internet open from 2-5 every weekday afternoon. I jotted that fact down in my mental notebook and continued on with my day. Well in the afternoon, I was driving back home and was going close to Independence so I decided to swing by and check this computer center out for myself. It is a rather simple affair, five computers in their parish hall and all of them had someone working on it. I spoke with the church member that was monitoring the center and she said that it had been open for a couple of weeks and had been getting more people every day that they were open. The reason that they decided to do this is that they are very close to the city library that is being closed because the library is moving to a new, more spacious building. However, the new building is quite a ways away from the current building and the peopl...

On Monday evening a group of Democrats from Clayton County, Iowa gathered for a photo with a tree that was donated by the county party to the Elkader city park. The tree was actually planted in the spring but alas, there was a flood that closed the park. The tree survived the flood (there was about a foot of water covering the ground for a day where the tree is located) and so we decided that we should visit our tree and have a photo taken with it. Afterwards we had our monthly meeting, which didn't have the attendance that I had hoped that it would since this is an election year. I have a feeling that many people in Iowa are still suffering from PCSD (Post Caucus Stress Disorder) in which they won't get interested until a month before the election. Overall, it is looking good for Democrats in the county, but as I well know, there is no candidate that is ever assured of winning in any contested election.

Today is the first day of school for my kids. They are starting 10th, 8th, 4th, & 2nd grade at our local school which is about 8 miles away from where we live. All of the grades are in one building and the total enrollment of the school is about 675 students. It is also the school that I graduated from a few years ago.... But then I went to school in Strawberry Point for K-4, then Lamont for 5th grade, then Arlington for 6th grade, then back to Strawberry Point for 7-8, and then out to the central school (Starmont) site that is located between the three towns. It is much nicer to have everything all in one site now. The youngest who is 4 years old is going to "Grandma's Preschool", which is actually my mom who works with her on a number of activities. Hopefully, when I'm 84 years old I will have half the energy of my mom. Well that is about it for today. Grace and Peace to all.

On Friday of last week we had an unusual occurrence over our farm. A neighbor apparently was having some of their corn sprayed with a crop duster. I can only remember one other time when there was a crop duster in our neighborhood. That is when there was an outbreak of army worms about 25 years ago. I haven't heard what the reason was for the spraying but it must be some sort of serious infestation because the cost of employing a crop duster is very high. I know that the pilots that fly these aircraft must be crazy because they go very low over the fields and seem like they barely miss the electric lines and/or trees at the ends of the fields.

On August 13, 1988 in West Bend, Iowa, two young idealistic people got married. Now, twenty years later, they have been through ups and downs, the births of five beautiful children, the grief of losing parents, dreams realized, and dreams not realized. Through it all they stayed together which sometimes was very hard but it all was worth it. Marriage isn't just about love; it is about commitment. When I see friends and family that have gotten divorced I feel very sad because they don't have the special bond that my wife and I have. Maybe they never had a bond like we have and that is the reason for the couple going separate ways. I pray for all couples, that they have the bond that true love and commitment gives them and that it will endure always.

Well today is Tuesday which is when the Edgewood Livestock Auction has their weekly sale. And today our Simmental bull, Wolf, headed to the sale barn. It is kind of a sad day for me since I purchased him when he was a yearling and I've had him for four years. But as in all things on a farm, he was livestock and not a pet. So it came to the time when he headed down the road. At least now I won't be getting any phone calls from a neighbor that he is out and in with their cows....

Kizzy the calf lounging around at the Clayton County Fair It is Monday again and I'm taking a wee break between reports. The kids have a week to go before school starts again. My lovely wife is trying to finish up her final paper for a class she took this summer. To top it off, it is a very nice day out today. With all the conflicts in the world, Iraq, Afganistan, Sudan, and now Georgia, I am reminded of the first verse of Psalm 133 which says, Oh, how good and pleasant it is, when brethren live together in unity! My prayer for today is not necessarily of unity but of peace. O God, may peace come to those areas and peoples that are experiencing wars and conflicts that they may find peace not just for themselves but for their neighbors as well. Amen

A photo of the Mississippi River near Waukon Junction, Iowa This is the sermon that I gave at the Episcopal Church of the Saviour in Clermont , Iowa on Sunday, Augsust 10 th . Once, on a church bulletin board there was the following notice: Morning Bible Study: Jesus walks on water Evening Bible Study: Searching for Jesus. Somehow it seemed no one in that church had foreseen the confusing message their bulletin board was going to tell that day. Anyway this morning we have the familiar story about Jesus walking on water. First a bit of background: John the Baptist has just been beheaded and the disciples (some of whom were followers of John) have not had time to grieve for him. They are immediately plunged into feeding the 5000, gathering up the 12 baskets of fragments left over and trying now to quell a crowd of people who want to proclaim Jesus as king. Jesus then sends them on ahead of him in a boat. Then Matthew says that Jesus dismissed the people and went alone up the mount...

The above photo is of the four Mulefoot piglets that my fifteen year old daughter exhibited at the Clayton County, Iowa Fair. These are the critters that she received a trophy for 'Best Overall Other Animal' exhibit. She is now up to two fair trophies. That is the number that I received for all of my years exhibiting at the county fair and she has three years left. Of course my thirteen year old already had two trophies so she will probably end up with more than either of us. The majority of my family is down in Des Moines, Iowa. My lovely wife had a educational conference there. Three of the kids and my mom went with her, they are staying at my brother's house where the youngest two can play with my niece's kids. My thirteen year old daughter and my nine year old son are lucky enough to get to stay with their dad for a few days. Well I suppose I should get back to working on another appraisal report.... Grace and Peace to all!

This past week was our county fair in National, Iowa. My wife and I are both 4-H leaders and four out of the five kids are involved some way in 4-H. The four year old isn't old enough yet to be an official part of it but she tries to help out with everyone else. If you don't know, 4-H is a youth organization that originally started out in rural areas but is now in both large and small places. In Iowa, the Iowa State University extension service administers the program. I think that 4-H is best summed up by the 4-H pledge that is said at every meeting. I pledge My head to clearer thinking, My heart to greater loyalty, My hands to larger service, and My health to better living, For my club, my community, my country, and my world. Our kids did well, they received some purple ribbons, mostly blue ribbons, and a few red ribbons. One trophy was won by the oldest daughter in the "Other Animals" category for the mulefoot pigs that she took. The fair is an event that the ...