A View From The Earth

Today as I was preparing the cornfield for planting and working in the garden. I started thinking about soil.  Yeah, soil, dirt, that stuff that gets under my fingernails.  I was just amazed at how this mixture of clay, loam, sand, organic matter, various elemental nutrients, microbes, and macrobes allows plants to grow and thus life as we know it to exist on Earth.  When I got the mail, I noticed that I received one of my 'freebie' magazines that talks about soil as being a dead medium that is to be completely controlled and not something that is alive and needs to be worked with to grow the crops and produce needed for our existence.  That, I believe, is the major divide in agriculture right now.  The two extremes are very large scale industrial operations and very small organic practitioners. But most of the farmers I know are somewhere in the middle of these extremes.  As a farmer, I try my best to grow healthy crops and as an extension, livestock, t...

This is the sermon I gave at the Episcopal Church of the Saviour in Clermont, Iowa on December 11, 2011. Readings: John 1:6-8, 19-28 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 Psalms 126 We've all heard the old familiar nursery rhyme "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the Kings horses and all the kings men. Couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again. You are probably thinking, where in the heck is he going with this, so please bear with me. Humpty Dumpty was this egg who lived in a kingdom. He was cheerful and chipper sitting high up waiting on a wall. Never had the fear of being poached, boiled, or fried. Never had the concern of becoming an omelet or a meringue. Humpty Dumpty lived a good life. Sitting high up, he was able to look down at the townsfolk as they went by. Never had a care or a concern. But one day as he sat up on top of his wall, something happened. Now the story doesn’t breakdown what it was. Perhaps he ha...

This week is a bye week for the Iowa State Cyclone football team. I had a couple of fumbles in last weeks predictions.  I had Oklahoma losing but they won and Iowa losing but they also won.  So for the year I'm 10/12 which is 83%, a B grade, so I could improve. My top team, Oklahoma, beat a very good Florida State team by 10 last week, this week they start conference play with Missouri.  I believe that it will be a good game but in the end I have the Sooners winning by a couple touchdowns. My bottom ranked team, the San Jose State Spartans, lost another one last week to Nevada but by a surprisingly small margin of 4 points.  This week they face New Mexico State at home, this is a game that I think they can win, but it will be a squeaker, the Spartans by a field goal. Iowa beat a good Pittsburgh team in the fourth quarter last week.  They came back and beat the Panthers by 4 points.  Next up for the Hawkeyes is Louisiana - Monroe of t...

The Iowa State Cyclones meet the University of Connecticut Huskies on Friday night. There were some surprises that happened in the college football landscape in Week 2.  But for the teams I mentioned last week, my predicted winners won and the predicted loser lost.  So I was at a 100% again.  But for the spreads I did ok but wasn't spot on.  My top ranked team, Oklahoma had a bye week so that was easy on me.  The bottom feeder, San Jose State, lost by only 10, where I had a loss by multiple touchdowns.  I missed that spread by a bit.  But for the BIG GAME, the Iowa State Cyclones hosting the Iowa Hawkeyes, I predicted a win by two from the Cyclones.  As it turned out it was decided in the third overtime,  Iowa State beat Iowa by three points.  No matter who won, it was one of the most enjoyable games that I've attended in a long time.  But that chapter has closed and it is time to move on to the upcoming weekend. The Oklah...

The New CyHawk Trophy that won't be used. (Anyone need a doorstop?) The second week of college football is upon us and here is how my predictions panned out for last week. Oklahoma was to win by 4+ touchdowns and won by 33 points. San Jose State was to lose by 4+ touchdowns and lost by 54 points. Iowa was to win by 4+ touchdowns and won by 27 points. Iowa State was to win by 3+ touchdowns and won by 1 point. So I got all of the winners and losers correct but only got the spread right on half of them. Maybe I can improve on that... Anyway this week in my rankings I have Oklahoma retaining their top status. But this week is a bye week for the Sooners so they will have to watch any football on the television. San Jose State retained their bottom ranking and this week they play UCLA which isn't all that great either but I believe that the Spartans are so bad that they again lose by 4+ touchdowns. Saturday is the "BIG GAME" for the State of Iowa. The University of ...

Another college football season has rolled around again. And again I will offer my measly rankings and prognostications on my top ranked university, bottom ranked university, and the local teams at Iowa and, of course, my beloved Iowa State Cyclones. For the first week, my top ranked team is Oklahoma. The Sooners were very strong last year and it looks like they could be completely unstoppable this year. Oklahoma plays Tulsa on Saturday and I think that the Sooners will roll, winning by 4+ touchdowns. On the other end is my bottom ranked team, which is San Jose State. The Spartans were rather hapless last year with only one win. I'm not seeing all that much improvement for them this year. San Jose State plays Stanford on Saturday and I expect that the Spartans will lose by a margin of over 4+ touchdowns. Iowa hosts Tennessee Tech on Saturday and the Hawkeyes should have an easy time of it with a win of 4+ touchdowns. Iowa State hosts intrastate rival Northern ...

Today starts the third week of my official permanent layoff from my employer. It has taken me a couple of weeks to really come to terms with it and what it means to me. At first I was really upset, angry even, about the dysfunctional leadership at the company. My employment was not ended by my manager but by the CEO, COO, & CFO of the company. The only thing I can think of about why I was terminated was that I have a tendency to ask questions and some of those questions are hard ones, especially about finances of the company and why certain things were happening within the company. After the anger episode I went on to what seems like my trusty companion of depression. My mood became gray, a lot like the days have been of late. Feeling like I was starting to slip into the clutches of depression, I've decided to fight. Not fight my former employer because I wasn't really happy at my job, but to fight the depression and see what is good about this change. I've sent ...

The temptations of Jesus. This is the sermon I gave the Episcopal Church of the Saviour in Clermont, Iowa on March 13, 2011. Readings: Matthew 4:1-11 Romans 5:12-19 Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 Psalms 32 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. We have entered Lent, it is a time that is set aside for self examination, repentance, reconciliation and restoration. And on this first Sunday of Lent, we hear the readings where Jesus is tempted, Adam and Eve are tempted and sin, and Paul tells the Romans that sin is death. It is a good thing that the Psalm tells us that we can be forgiven of our sins, otherwise this could be a real downer. But, I'm going to focus today on Jesus and the temptations that he faced and what he did about them. If a commercial on the television is to be believed then temptation truly comes in the form of cake or chocolate or chocolate cake, but of course temptation comes in many shapes and si...

A stained glass of St. Paul. He had to keep reminding the Church in Corinth to stay on the correct path. This is the sermon I gave the Episcopal Church of the Saviour in Clermont, Iowa on February 13, 2011. 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. The Corinthians self-image was of a spiritually mature congregation, endowed with all the spiritual gifts they needed, well taught and self-sufficient. In fact they were quite similar to some churches today. They thought their learning and their experience of the gifts of God made them better than others. But as Paul looks at them he says Mature? I think not! Spiritual? No! Not spiritual. You could say they’re suffering from what you might call an adolescence syndrome. They think they’re mature, and in some respects they are, but in other respects they’re still acting like children. What they don’t realize is that mere lapse of time doesn’t bring...

Martin Luther King Jr. This is the sermon I gave the Episcopal Church of the Saviour in Clermont, Iowa on January 16, 2011. John 1:29-1:41 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. In 1961, one of the abiding symbols of the Cold War and Communism went up between East and West Germany. On November 9, 1989, that symbol came down. I remember watching TV news reports as people celebrated on top of the wall and how they took sledgehammers to break the wall down by themselves. I also remember reading an article about the fall of the Berlin Wall written by a World Methodist Council representative, it quoted a sign that the author saw the day after the wall came down, it read, 'Not the bear, not the lion, not the tiger, but the Lamb; the Lamb wins! The lamb is usually a sign of gentleness and timidity, prone to disaster from many hazards. But for Christians, the lamb is a sign of victory. In today’s lesson, John...

This is for all my Belgian friends...

Joseph taking Mary and Jesus to Egypt This is the sermon I gave at Morning Prayer at the Episcopal Church of the Saviour in Clermont, Iowa on January 2, 2011. Scripture: Matthew 2:13-15,19-23 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my rock, and my redeemer. Amen. Sometimes,we take the long way home, just to enjoy the scenery and the companionship. Christmas is about a lot of things, but it is at least about getting back home. We sing about it: “I’ll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams. And “Over the river and through the woods.” Over the river and through the woods, To grandmother’s house we go; The horse knows the way to follow the sleigh Through the white and drifting snow When I was young, in my mind's eye, I imagined what the stable where Jesus was born was like. It was a lot like the barn that we had. During the chill of wintertime, it was a warm place where the milk cows stayed. It was a nice, war...

Dream of Joseph by Rembrandt This is the short sermon I gave at Morning Prayer at the Episcopal Church of the Saviour in Clermont, Iowa on December 19, 2010 Scripture: Matthew 1:18-25 Yesterday, we heard the Bishop's take on today's readings. I'm not even going to come close to the wisdom that he shared with us, but his message raised some thoughts and questions with me. What we have heard here in today's Gospel is Joseph’s story. The struggle of a good and righteous man, the struggle to come to terms with the fact his fiance is pregnant and that he is not the Father. The truth, though, is that this pregnancy was only a part of Josephs dilemma. The rest of the dilemma lay in the fact that God may have a place for Joseph, a place that only Joseph could fill. Joseph, despite being a man of faith, could not believe that God would want anything to do with him, and his simple life. He couldn’t believe that this living God that he worshiped regularly every Sabb...

A couple of weeks ago my employer asked for volunteers for a winter layoff. But they did not get many people raising their hand. So in the next couple of days, we will find out who gets shown the door and who doesn't. I am a bit worried for a couple of reasons, I am low on the seniority pole and I happen to make more than others do. That combination would lead me to think that I might be one of those on the chopping block. I am probably stressing over this more than I should but it is a hell of a way to say Merry Christmas to anyone. I will continue to pray that whenever something blocks my path, God will show me a new path to follow.

Here's hoping for a good solid win against Northern Iowa. Here are my top ten after the third week of play. Iowa dropped out of the top ten because they were upset by Arizona. Oregon moves up to 9th and Wisconsin enters the picture at 10th. 1. Alabama 2. Ohio State 3. Florida 4. Texas 5. Oklahoma 6. Boise State 7. Texas Christian 8. Nebraska 9. Oregon 10. Wisconsin Iowa State plays Northern Iowa this weekend. Iowa State should handily win over the FCS school. But the Northern Iowa Panthers will definitely put up a good fight and the Cyclones can't overlook them otherwise they could lose to this very good team. And hopefully Iowa State will play better than they did in last week's loss to Kansas State. I'm predicting a 20+ point Cyclone victory. As I mentioned earlier, the Iowa Hawkeyes were upset by Arizona and thus dropped out of my top ten. But this week they play Ball State and they aren't doing all that well. With the Hawkeyes looking for redemption; t...

Pullin' tractors, I thought a fitting photo for the "Farmageddon" game between Iowa State and Kansas State Here are my top ten after the second week of play. No one dropped out of the top ten because they all won with the exception of Boise State who had a bye this week. 1. Alabama 2. Ohio State 3. Florida 4. Texas 5. Oklahoma 6. Boise State 7. Texas Christian 8. Nebraska 9. Iowa 10. Oregon As the photo says, this week is the "Farmageddon" game between Iowa State and Kansas State, both very good agricultural universities. The game is being played at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, and should be a pretty good game overall. My personal opinion is that if Iowa State plays like it did against Northern Illinois, then the Cyclones should win by a touchdown but if they play like they did last week against Iowa, then the tables are reversed and Kansas State wins by a touchdown. The Iowa Hawkeyes handily beat the Iowa State Cyclones last week. As unhappy as it made...

Cy-Hawk Trophy Here are my top ten after the first week of play. Virginia Tech dropped out of the top ten after their loss to Boise State. Oregon moved up into the tenth spot. 1. Alabama 2. Ohio State 3. Florida 4. Texas 5. Oklahoma 6. Boise State 7. Texas Christian 8. Nebraska 9. Iowa 10. Oregon This week is the Iowa vs Iowa State game otherwise known as the Cy-Hawk Rivalry. My favorites, the Iowa State Cyclones are way down my list at 53 after handling Northern Illinois last week and the Iowa Hawkeyes as you have already seen are at the 9 spot after beating Eastern Illinois. Even with the disparity in the rankings, I believe that the Cyclones will be way up for this game and give the Hawkeyes something to think about. But in the end the Hawkeyes will prevail. My prediction for a score is Iowa 28, Iowa State 17. And finally, the team I have on the bottom, Western Kentucky lost to Nebraska and face Kentucky this week. The Hilltoppers should do better but I believe that Kentucky ...

This is the sermon that I gave at the Church of the Saviour Episcopal Church in Clermont, Iowa on July 18, 2010. I want you to note right at the beginning of this sermon the context in which Luke records this incident in the home of Martha and Mary. Luke places it immediately after Jesus has taught the parable of the Good Samaritan. I think that is significant because in that parable the ‘religious people’ are condemned for not doing the practical thing of helping the man lying injured by the roadside. This incident in the home of Martha and Mary seems to teach the very opposite. The context is important because it helps us to understand the meaning and purpose of this story in the Gospel of Luke and in our lives today. Martha and Mary, along with their brother Lazarus, are close friends of Jesus. Their home at Bethany, some two miles from Jerusalem, was a familiar place for Jesus and his disciples to rest and relax. Their home would also be the scene of the miracle of the resurrect...

I have to admit that I'm a bit of a wonk when it comes to American style football especially in the Division 1 College ranks. I've went as far as ranking all 120 teams as to where I think they should be rated. So here are my top ten plus a some others that I find of interest right now. 1. Alabama 2. Ohio State 3. Florida 4. Texas 5. Virginia Tech 6. Oklahoma 7. Boise State 8. Texas Christian 9. Nebraska 10. Iowa My team, Iowa State, is down the list at 55. As the season progresses, I hope that they can climb the ladder to a higher ranking, but we shall see... Northern Illinois is the Iowa State Cyclones first opponent. I have them ranked right now at 50, which would make them better than Iowa State. Well, I still predict a win for the Cyclones because they are playing in Ames which makes a big difference. But it should be a good game and I will be there on Thursday night to watch Iowa State get a season opener win. The Iowa Hawkeyes start out play with the Eastern Illinois...

I've been neglecting the blog for the past few months so I thought I should probably post the sermons that I've done this summer at the Church of the Saviour Episcopal Church in Clermont, Iowa. This is the July 11, 2010 sermon. In every construction trade, in every business, there are standards of righteousness. By the term righteousness, in the context of construction, we mean being correct. Amos, one of the earliest prophets in Israel, used the plumb line as a metaphor for righteousness. Israel was more than “a bit out of plumb” in the days of Amos and Isaiah. The book of Amos records that two years after Amos received his visions, an earthquake struck the area. Josephus, the Jewish historian, believed that the earthquake happened at the same time as Uzziah’s seizure of the role of High Priest and his subsequent bout with leprosy. Amos lived at about the same time as the prophets Isaiah, Micah and Hosea. Under Jeroboam II the kingdom of Israel reached the zenith ...