October 2, 2022

Regardless of religious or political system, human beings have shown ourselves to be the

cruelest of all of God’s creatures since the dawn of time through endless warfare,

enslavement, unspeakable violence and genocide perpetrated one against another.

Despite gazillions of laws created in the attempt to harness our penchant for cruelty, as

ancient records testify little has changed, merely the scope and ferocity of our levels of

hatred and cruelty.

Here in the United States, that predisposition was woven into the very fabric of our

nation since the first European immigrant set foot upon our shores. In the effort to

establish and maintain both safety and economic security, the White humans from the

“old country” established systems of cruelty beyond imagining in the genocide of the

Native Peoples encountered here (“The only good Indian is a dead Indian.”), as well as

the enslavement of countless innocent African People brought here at enormous profit

as chattel in the bowels of slave ships and generations of their descendants.

Yes, laws both ancient and modern have been passed to address these horrors, but the

cruelty lives on as revealed with increasing persistence right in our own backyards and

living rooms in the denial of basic human rights and dignity to any human being who

doesn’t pass the absolutely ungodly, fundamentally evil, and essentially meaningless

“White skin test”. Native Peoples remain relegated to occupy land deemed useless by the

selfish and greedy, and Americans of African descent are forced to live in poverty

generation after generation with no ability to accumulate wealth in any form to pass on

to their children. And when a million or more desperate Black people, mostly male,

attempt to lift themselves out of poverty in one of the few (generally illegal) ways

available to them, they are returned to slavery—only this time behind prison walls.

And the list goes on to include Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, Arab Americans,

and so many others.

In today’s America, joining the ranks of those who feel the sting of our nation’s cruelty

are those classified as immigrants, refugees seeking a glimmer of hope for a future by

finding asylum in the “Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave”. We have only to

read or hear today’s top stories to find out how that’s working out for them.

While many Americans who identify themselves as Christian would prefer to ignore

Christ Jesus altogether, or paint Our Lord as somehow supportive of their enormously

cruel beliefs and behaviors, the author of St. Matthew’s Gospel reminds us pointedly

that God in Christ demands something very different from true disciples:

[Jesus said,] "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then

he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he

will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,

and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left….[H]e will say to

those at his left hand, "You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire

prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was

thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me,

naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'

Then they also will answer, "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a

stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?' Then he will answer

them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not

do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into

eternal life."

(Matthew 25: 31-33, 41-46)

Sounds pretty damned clear to me—a stark reminder that we have a long way to go and

a lot of work to do in getting there.

Charles+

September 18, 2022

At their last meeting, the Vestry members of Trinity Church gratefully accepted the gift

of a simple yet elegant crucifix from a parishioner who wishes to remain anonymous.

This central symbol of our faith in Christ Jesus now hangs on the gospel-side front wall

of the church directly behind the pulpit reminding us all that it is from this piece of

church furniture that the Crucified Christ is proclaimed and preached. Many, if not most

Episcopal and Anglican Churches display this same silent yet powerful representation of

Our Crucified Lord behind or beside the pulpit, the place where the Good News of God

in Christ, the Word of God, is shared and embraced anew whenever we gather for

worship and prayer.

Much like the portrayal of the Crucifixion of Christ rendered in the exquisite stained

glass of the Morris window above the altar, the symbol of the Crucifix hung in close

proximity to the pulpit serves as a reminder of the depth of sacrifice our Loving God was

and is willing to endure to enflesh that Holy Love in our own hearts and lives, and that it

is our mission in life to share that joyful news of redemption in Christ with every person

we meet. While at times this image can be a painful reminder of our own brokenness,

our own sinfulness, our own failure to commend the faith that is in us, it is also a

compelling sign that our God provides the path both through and beyond that deadly

state and into a resurrected life of joy, hope, love, and peace.

Rather than remaining a mere replica of the horrific death we humans inflicted on an

innocent man 2000 years ago named Jesus of Nazareth, the powerful image of the

Christ of God offering His life in sacrifice on the Cross presses us to embrace all which

that incredible gift brings into our present experience—to remember and therein

become re-membered, reconnected, restored, renewed by the boundless Grace of our

Triune God working in us and through us to make us one with God, with one another,

and with the entire creation. While the Crucifixion of Christ was undoubtedly an end, a

culmination of Jesus’ earthly ministry among us, His gift of self-sacrifice resounds both

through time and beyond time, through words and beyond words, enfolding us into the

Ultimate Mystery of God.

August 7, 2022

The View From The Vicarage August 7, 2022

I find it difficult to believe that I am the only person of faith who suffers these days from

an acute sense of overwhelming sadness coupled with mental, emotional, and even

spiritual exhaustion. While I attempt to keep the media voices of doom and gloom at

arm’s length in all times and places, I make it a point to keep up with newsworthy events

in our state, our nation, and across the globe which shape our common life as citizens of

the world community. As a wise elderly priest once counselled me to do, I try to pray

“with the Book of Common Prayer in one hand and the newspaper in the other”.

But with the advent of the internet, as delightful and informative as it can often prove,

the never-ending onslaught of bad, even horrific stories of suffering, violence and death

from across the earth in real or almost real time becomes more than I can bear. For my

own health and well-being, I attempt to fast from regularly following the headlines

completely, or at least pry myself away from their endless roar clamoring for my

attention for a precious day or so of quiet and peace. But all it takes is a brief question or

comment from a well-meaning friend, and I’m right back in the utterly exhausting and

depressing “thick of it”.

Yet, other than endless tale of destruction wrought by Muslim extremists, or the

heretical rantings and saber-rattling of the so-called Christian nationalist right-wingers

here in America, nary a word of hope or even mild encouragement ever appears in any

news feed today. Despite the reality that the Episcopal Church’s General Convention

met in Baltimore back in July, and the Lambeth Conference involving Anglican bishops

from across the globe just concluded their every-ten-year gathering, not a peep was

heard anywhere (other than friends’ posts on Facebook). Even the exalted Episcopal

Diocese of New York bears nothing but bad news for so many small and struggling

parishes, some facing the agonizing option of immanent closure as their only recourse.

So it’s up to us, dear and beloved friends, to be proactive in our families, our circles of

friends, our local clubs and organizations, and our own villages and towns to that

blessed alternative, to be that Gospel voice of hope, love, and fullness of life in God to

the millions of good people around us who claim no religious affiliation whatsoever. It’s

time for every member of Trinity Church and others like us to stop being “the best kept

secret in town”. Remember: it’s not that the Church has the love of Christ to share

among ourselves, rather that Christ has the Church to bring that boundless love to

people everywhere!

July 24, 2022

The View from the Vicarage Sunday July 24, 2022

As food for thought this week, I share some alarming warnings for the future of our beloved

nation and the Christian faith itself from the pen of The Rev. Dr. Chris Hedges, a Pulitzer Prize

winning journalist and ordained Presbyterian minister.

Just recently was posted on Facebook Chris’ courageous declaration: “And what I’m willing to

do, which the mainstream church is not, is to denounce the Christian right as Christian heretics.

You don’t have to, as I did, spend three years at Harvard Divinity School to realize that Jesus

didn’t come to make us rich. And he certainly didn’t come to make Pat Robertson and Joel

Osteen rich. And what they have done is acculturate the worst aspects of American

imperialism*, capitalism, chauvinism, violence and bigotry into the Christian religion.”

*[I would add: “American exceptionalism”. CJB+]

Elsewhere he writes: “[My] book, American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on

America, was a warning that an American fascism, wrapped in the flag and clutching the

Christian cross, was organizing to extinguish our anemic democracy. This assault is very far

advanced. The connecting tissue among the disparate militia groups,  QAnon conspiracy

theorists , anti-abortion activists, right-wing patriot organizations, Second Amendment

advocates, neo-Confederates and Trump supporters that stormed the Capitol on January 6 is

this frightening Christian fascism.

“These Christians fascists are clear about the society they intend to create. In their ideal

America, our “secular humanist” society based on science and reason will be destroyed. The Ten

Commandments will form the basis of the legal system.  Creationism or “Intelligent Design” will

be taught in public schools, many of which will be overtly “Christian.” Those branded as social

deviants, including the LGBTQ community, immigrants, secular humanists, feminists, Jews,

Muslims, criminals, and those dismissed as “nominal Christians”—meaning Christians who do

not embrace this peculiar interpretation of the Bible—will be silenced, imprisoned, or killed. The

role of the federal government will be reduced to protecting property rights, “homeland”

security and waging war. Most government assistance programs and federal departments,

including education, will be terminated. Church organizations will be funded and empowered to

run social-welfare agencies and schools. The poor, condemned for sloth, indolence, and

sinfulness, will be denied help. The death penalty will be expanded to include “moral crimes,”

including apostasy, blasphemy, sodomy, and witchcraft, as well as abortion, which will be

treated as murder. Women, denied contraception, access to abortion, and equality under the

law, will be subordinate to men. Those who practice other faiths will become, at best, second-

class citizens. The wars waged by the American empire will be defined as religious crusades.

Victims of police violence and those in prison will have no redress. There will be no separation of

church and state. The only legitimate voices in public discourse and the media will be

“Christian.” America will be sacralized as an agent of God. Those who defy the “Christian”

authorities, at home and abroad, will be condemned as agents of Satan.”

Given that all of Jesus’ teachings contradict this movement into Christian fascism American-

style and all it espouses, it’s time for the rest of us to stand up and be heard!

July 10, 2022

The View From The Vicarage For Sunday July 10, 2022

In his 1859 masterwork about another time of political and religious upheaval in what

was considered the most powerful country in Europe, A Tale of Two Cities, Charles

Dickens wrote:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the

age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the

season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter

of despair.”

To my mind, these powerful opening sentences reflecting the paradox of life express

anew the extremes of our own time, not only in the United States but across the globe.

Rooted as they are in decades, even centuries-old competing and contradictory

theological and ideological understandings of what life should hold for both individuals

and entire societies, the ongoing crisis of worldwide pandemic exacerbated these sharp

divisions into the starkly differing realities outlined with alarming regularity in the news

headlines and social media diatribes.

And the great rhetorical question posed by Pontius Pilate before the powerless Christ of

God thunders among us anew: “What is truth?” Is there, or even can there be an

absolute truth or set of truths to which all nations and people may choose to ascribe in

all times and places? Or is truth itself something which each individual or group of

people can accept and embrace for themselves, whether or not others concur? And, of

course, right on the heels of Pilate’s question for the ages arise the intricacies of defining

right and wrong, good and bad, Godly and evil.

I wonder if today we find ourselves somewhere in the process of sorting out these

overarching questions of life on earth for a new age just aborning, a new epoch not yet

fully emerged out of the ashes of life as we have known it since the time of the Renais-

sance, the Reformation, and the Age of Enlightenment. Terrified of what life will hold

and what we may become on the other side of the death and resurrection before us, we

have retreated into the deepest and darkest corners of our own fear in our futile efforts

to feel safe, strong, and in control.

Without a doubt, these times are troubling indeed as we confront the reality that life as

we have known it disintegrates before our very eyes. And so, my friends, as towers

tumble and systems fall to dust around us, we are left with nothing to hold onto except

our faith that, as Blessed Julian of Norwich proclaimed with the Black Plague raging

around her: “All will be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things will be well.”

“Why, how, when, where can this be so?” we ask, frantic for the answers. And as simple

as it sounds, and yet monumentally difficult to accept, the only answer which will calm

our fears and give us hope is God. “I AM,” was the only answer offered to Moses and the

Israelites when lost in the desert more than three millennia ago. “I AM” is the only

answer offered to us today—nothing more, nothing less than the God of Love is already

there in whatever future lies ahead. And in that boundless, Holy Love which is God, new

life awaits. Yes, the “getting there” is not going to be easy. Dying is always fearful and

painful. But on the other side? God.

June 26, 2022

The View from the Vicarage                                   June 26, 2022

To my admittedly limited observation and experience, it seems that most Americans these days are suffering from either an overwhelming feeling of fear (expressed predominantly through defensiveness and anger) or an equally overwhelming feeling of sadness and loss—or both. And given the many levels of alarm clambering for our attention and commitment, this is certainly understandable, yet even crippling or enslaving at the same time.

For me, it is the sadness which claims my heart and mind’s energy, especially as I hear of and reflect on the outward state of our beloved country. If what I am led to believe is true—from both ends of the political spectrum, filled as they are with moral outrage and hate—we face the real possibility of the end of the great American Experiment in self-government with its focus on promoting the common good. Could the dictator of Russia, Vladimir Putin, really be right on this one, relying as he does on the lessons of thousands of years of authoritarianism the world over? In the end, are we very human creatures so flawed and fickle as to be truly unable to conquer our own self-centered egos and the insecurities they breed within us that we simply cannot understand and accept how deeply intertwined our love of self is with our love of neighbor?

One of my favorite seminary professors challenged the rampant individualism of this age, and all ages, by stating the simple truth of God in Christ: “If we are saved at all, we are saved together.”  Lying at the heart of the Christian life of faith we find the radical assertion that, while we are “saved”—redeemed—as individuals through the sacrificial love of God expressed most clearly in the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, we are reborn into a new family, a new community of love and faith bound together forever by God’s Holy Spirit.

It breaks my heart, as it must certainly break God’s heart, to watch us squander that incredible gift of community because we either cannot or refuse to accept the revolutionary notion that every person, indeed all of creation, stands equal and valued simply by the gift of being beloved of God.  Isn’t this what lies at the heart of Thomas Jefferson’s earth-shattering assertion: “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men [people] are created equal…”? How very tragic it is that, after the mere blink of 233 years of existence, we have torn the divinely-inspired fabric of our beautiful, diverse, and dynamic nation into tatters. May God help us and bless all the people of our land.

June 12, 2022

The View From The Vicarage: Guest Reflection by Linnae Peterson

“First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in the baby carriage”. So goes the jump rope rhyme from my childhood. As most anyone can tell you, that is not how life always goes. Mary had her baby “out of order”, so did Sarah, Hannah and Elizabeth, whose babies came long after they were expected.

There is a debate among the clergy and theologians in the Episcopal Church at the moment about whether people must be baptized before they are allowed to take communion. We often get trapped in our desire for order. First, we must learn about God, then repent of how we have lived, then be baptized, then confirmed, then receive communion.

Somehow God doesn’t seem to work that way. Peter showed up to Cornelius’s house to begin the process by telling them about Jesus and God jumps the gun by filling them with the Holy Spirit. If you look you can see all sorts of ways that God doesn’t stop to follow the logical order of thing, or at least our order of things. The sacraments take us to a different level. In them we touch eternity, an eternity that is beyond the timeline in which we live. To say that God’s actions in a person’s life are bound by time is to tie God to our linear life.

None of this denies the importance of either baptism or the eucharist. Both are an important, and I would say critical part of our life in Christ. However, when and how they come into our lives is at the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

Throughout the history of Christianity, we have had times when society, or circumstances have pushed us to understand that God works in different ways in different times. Baptism shifted from a rite for adults when we set up a long period of catechesis before baptism. As the generations and composition of the church changed, we baptized infants. As the church grew, we instituted confirmation. Then we decided that only those confirmed could be admitted to the Table. [Recently] we…came to look at baptism as the important rite of admission.

Now our society and churches have changed. For those who are drawn by the Holy Spirit into our churches, they are often drawn to eucharist and then to catechesis and then to baptism. Our logic tells us that this is the wrong order of things, yet it seems to be the way God is working in many lives. Like Gamaliel, I for one don’t what to get in God’s way.

May 28, 2022

The View From The Vicarage

In times of excruciating pain and grief following the death of one near and dear, I offer

to myself and others whatever comfort I can, often reflecting the perspective which

states either: “Grief comes as the price of Love”, or possibly, “Grief is love with no place

to go”. While we may find only small comfort in these and similar thoughts as we

struggle to make any kind of sense of the depth of pain and loss we feel, these offer the

possibility of beginning the process of healing and restoration.

The soul and gut-level awareness that we are loved, loveable, and beloved of God and

those closest to us provides that bedrock assurance we need to build good and healthy

lives in this and every age. In preparation for every baptism of a child, I remind parents,

godparents, and family members that, essentially, the promises (vows) they make to “be

responsible for seeing that the child you present is brought up in the Christian faith and

life”, and that “by your prayers and witness [to] help this child to grow into the full

stature of Christ” simply mean filling these three basic needs: You will do all in your

power (with God’s help) to make sure your lovely children mature with no doubt or

question in the depths of their being that they are loved, loveable, and beloved. Without

this fundamental awareness, no child will be able to grow or thrive in life at all well, too

often ending life in suicide.

Since the year 2012, here in America we have witnessed and responded to dozens upon

dozens of murderous rampages wreaking horrendous losses on our children, our young

people, our neighbors, friends, and the elders we cherish. And while grief may be the

price of love, what we endure through all of these horrors is the price of no love—of

absent or misguided parents and family and community who failed a child on the most

basic levels of life.

And as the last two young men, by inflicting their rage and dark despair on innocent

adults and children, have shown in their embrace of hatred and violence, the price of

that failure is catastrophic. So yes, in one sense, it is not the guns which are the biggest

part of the problem, but our refusal to intervene in the lives of our despairing and

desperate young adults: to make it impossible for them to purchase these weapons of

mass destruction (let alone find a twisted sense of pride and self-worth in using them),

and provide them with alternative experiences of life and love from the earliest possible

moment, that the black hole of death which so consumes them may be filled with the

Light of Holy Love.

May 15, 2022

The View from the Vicarage

May 15,2022

Resurrection happens. New life is born in the human soul, mind, and body. But it can often take

a long time before we actually begin to perceive, realize, and appreciate God's gift present in our

lives. Unless it leaps into our consciousness like a blow to the forehead when we suddenly see

life through new eyes, most times we go through our days unaware of our new life in God

blossoming within and around us. In my experience, resurrection awareness tends to emerge all

but silently, a quiet whisper of holy love. Then, like one nearly blind seeing clearly for the first

time, our understanding of ourselves and the world we inhabit shifts, and we are gently swept

into God's time, kairos, for however long God allows.

This very reality flowed almost imperceptibly into my awareness this past Wednesday evening

through the gift of a bright moon shining in a clear sky, lighting up the old barn in the neighbors’

yard and dancing on the ground in speckled bits of light sneaking through the new leaves above.

Suddenly my mind was flooded with memories of a young man of long ago enjoying the same

moonlight splashing on a much older barn and under tall trees on a similar warm and clear night

while standing on the farmhouse porch outside his first apartment. Suddenly a moment of

knowing God’s peace during one of my several lifetimes past was not only reflected in my

present reality, but also somehow alive in that reality in new and astounding ways. Suddenly the

sometimes tortured path of a young 22 year old man was melded with grace and beauty into the

now 70 year old man’s awareness in a new place hundreds of miles removed. A connection

nearly impossible to put into words was forged by love and the circle of my life made whole in

the renewed experience of God’s gift of peace. Then and now, it’s all the same. It’s all one. And

my gratitude to our loving God grows ever deeper.

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

And by Grace, we stumbling and bumbling children of God rise with Him—each and every day!

Alleluia!

April 17, 2022 Easter Sunday

The View from the Vicarage, Easter Day 2022

My Dear Family in Christ,

As I wade through what sometimes seems an endless number of commercials on TV networks and social media, I find myself both fascinated and extremely puzzled by the subject matter and content of a majority of the shows, movies and computer games advertised. Aside from the usual fare of romantic comedies, historical fiction dramas, character studies, and family-oriented programs (clearly produced for an audience with about a middle-school level of education and sophistication), so many of the selections offered in recent years center around tales of fantasy set in worlds which never were and, God-willing, will never be. Constant gratuitous violence, murder, death, and utter annihilation of one sort of imaginary foe or another fill every scene as people and other outlandish creatures vie for survival and conquest. “So,” I surmise, “this is where the Star Wars culture of decades ago has led the American consumer”—little more than a deep, cynical, desperate scream to “get me the h*** out of my world, my life!”

With some glowing and inspiring exceptions, if the “entertainment” industry is responding to our insatiable demand for constant escape from reality, as a human species we have abandoned any sense of our basic created reality: that we are placed on this fragile earth to love--ourselves and all other forms of life, especially God--because we are designed, hard-wired for love. Nowhere is this Love revealed more graphically and profoundly than in our deliberate execution of the Son of God, fully God and fully human, on the worst device ever fashioned to kill a human being.  God allowed us to murder God’s Christ so that we might finally see and embrace our true nature as ones beloved. To my experience, in that sacrificial and salvific death I am forgiven, healed, and made new, so much so that I am able to find joy, beauty and hope not only in myself but also in the community of faith which surrounds and upholds me every hour of every day.

So search on, if you must, for the perfect strong and victorious hero to save you from the horrors and challenges of life. We’ve come a long way from Superman and Buck Rogers, yet sadly haven’t really moved an inch, unless in reverse. For me, and perhaps you as well, the real hero worthy of devotion, respect and love is God in Christ Jesus. After all, He’s the only one to have actually conquered death, the real and lasting enemy, and fully reveal to anyone who will actually listen the infinite possibilities to be discovered in the boundless love of God.

Alleluia! Christ is Risen! The Lord is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!

February 20, 2022

The View From The Vicarage

In these weeks leading up to the Season of Lent, the gospel lessons turn our attention to Luke’s version of Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, called the Sermon on the Plain in Luke.  Today, Jesus instructs his listeners in very demanding terms: "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you…” ending with the fundamental teaching shared by all world religions, The Golden Rule: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

Given the extreme levels of strife, discord, and violence spilling continuously out of the disorientation of life in pandemic time, what comes to mind is an old Native American (I believe) proverb which advises us to “Let any judgment of a man go until you have walked a mile in his shoes.” Perhaps more so than men, this teaching applies to women as well, especially those single moms struggling to hold a job, run a household, and raise a family at the same time—many of them on poverty-level wages.

I truly believe that, at no time in the history of the world since WWII, we need to be reminded of this proverb, for so many of us have elevated the judging and condemning of others to the level of a vicious and destructive art form. As the continual onslaught of disease and death drives us into overwhelming levels of fear and anxiety, fraying connections and institutions that seemed permanent and inviolable only a few years ago, we have entered into an era when people feel rudderless, adrift, abandoned in the face of losing so much of the “glue” that held life together for individuals, communities, and nations alike.

Yet the summons of God in Christ to build our lives around fostering the well-being of others—loving our neighbor as we love ourselves; doing to others as we would have them do to us—remains unchanged even as Love reveals once-hidden places of deep brokenness crying out for healing, while at the same time inviting us to see new and different places requiring our love and attention. So yes, with the strength of the Love revealed to us on the Cross, walk we must in each other’s shoes long before pronouncing judgment, ultimately leaving the judging to God. But over and above sharing another’s journey as best we can, we Christians are to walk together in the shoes of Christ Jesus, at all times and in all places, that this world—in every facet of creation—may truly be reconciled to God.

January 30, 2022

January 30, 2022 Message from Fr. Blauvelt

Not too many years ago, when Americans by the thousands flocked to Europe for relatively short bus tours of the continent, comedians would quip: “If it’s Tuesday, this must be Belgium”. Hoping to shed light on the absurdity of any attempt to “experience 7 countries in a week” by ignoring the constraints of time and distance, they forced us to look at ourselves and, hopefully, laugh at our unrealistic expectations. In order to “get the best bang for our buck”, tourists were required to engage in whatever mental gymnastics necessary to disengage from the realities around them and “soldier on”, crashing through cathedrals, palaces, museums, markets, and souvenir shops with only moments to spare—to live in an alternate reality far removed from the headaches and heartaches of daily life.

In many ways, the past 2 years of Life in Covid Time have required the same sort of disengagement from so much of what once gave our lives content and meaning. The mental check-list of stuff in purses or pockets we review whenever walking out the door has, by necessity, expanded to include an emotional piece as well: do I feel safe? Will my itinerary take me to places and among people I can trust to do their part to shield me from disease and the possibility of an untimely and lonely death?

For the first time in a long time, managing a sometimes overwhelming level of fear for our lives and well-being has entered into every calculation we make in deciding where to go, who to see, how long to tarry, mask on or off, and what about hugs and kisses. Defensive measures once restricted to the unfortunate residents of the inner city or those imprisoned by abuse are now the experience of everyone. It’s certainly no surprise that such distrust borne of fear has fanned the flames of division, anger and hatred, especially here in the United States.

Yet the difficult road out of this morass is not one that any of us can travel alone. If we’re going to get out of Covid Time alive and intact, we will need to relearn how to do it together. Rebuilding trust never comes easily, and arises only when loving intention to set oneself aside for the good of all—the Common Good—becomes our guiding virtue.

Like it or not, we are all in this adventure called Life together. A wise theologian once said of the salvation given in the sacrificial death of Christ Jesus: “If we are saved at all in Christ, we are saved together.” I am as dependent on you and everyone else in my struggle to survive and thrive as you are and everyone else is. “Blessed be the ties that bind our hearts in Christian love”, proclaims the old evangelical hymn. God would have it no other way, I’m sure.

January 2, 2022

 It has been noted by people much wiser than I that “The Arc of the Universe bends toward the Good”. As in no other period in my 70 years of life here in the United States since the late 1960s and early 1970s, we need to hear and embrace this truth anew as we mark the beginning of a New Year. Pundits on all sides of every issue prophesy of the death of “life as we know it” in our beloved nation and indeed the world. The continued and seemingly uncontrollable spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in all of its variants denies everyone of that essential sense of safety and security as weighing risk factors colors every decision we make and step we take.

 So it comes as no surprise when people turn away from the blessed Source of Life and Peace who alone can shield and protect us—these days largely through the inspiration God provides among the brilliant minds in our scientific community. Caught in a web of fear and confusion—the favored weapons of the evil around and even in us—instead of clinging to the actual Savior whose never-ending love and care will get us through our current crises, so many in our world seek salvation in armed might, the false promises of men perceived to be strong and protective leaders, the ever-narrowing identity of tribal culture, or by simply denying the truth laid bare before them.

 Personally, I choose to stand alongside St. Paul, the founder of the Church as separated from the rich traditions of Judaism. To the fear-filled, persecuted members of the early church in Rome, Paul wrote: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39; emphasis mine)

Choose the good, dear friends. Choose the good by choosing God in Christ Jesus and you will be as aligned as possible with Holy Love who lies at the heart of the universe and finds expression in every aspect of Creation. And there is peace, hope and life enough to fill your days with joy. A Blessed New Year to one and all.

December 26, 2021 Message from Fr. Blauvelt

As difficult as it is to hold before our minds and hearts, here we are in the midst of a second Christmas in a time of pandemic. With the possible exception of the foolhardy, every person the world over has grown weary of the constant need to be cautious, careful, and attentive to the ways available to us to avoid infection, disease, and even death. Certainly the gift of vaccines, provided with record speed by our incredible scientific research and development community here in the US and elsewhere, the last year has brought some opportunity to take a collective breath and let go of the overwhelming fear and anxiety which shaped our lives for a seeming eternity in 2020.

 And yet, with the death toll rapidly approaching a staggering one million lives lost here in the United States alone, and millions more across the globe, we dare not minimize or deny the frustratingly real danger present in the very air we breathe when in the company of others who may carry the virus unaware. Perhaps more so than any other virus we’ve encountered since the Black Plague, or at least the “Spanish” flu, the enemy we face in SARS Covid-19 is a wily adversary, able to mutate quickly and silently into forms we have yet to encounter.

 What weighs most heavily on my heart, and perhaps yours as well, is the pervasive sense of loss stemming from this relentless foe. Whether we have witnessed the death of a family member or close friend or not, those whose lives have been upended by the death of someone near and dear are only an arm’s length away.

So I join with one of my clergy colleagues who wrote recently to her parish: “I want to name the very real grief that many of us are feeling in this moment. There is such sadness and loss in having to yet again change our plans and miss out on another year of traditions that are so precious to so many of us. Combined with the fear of what may lie ahead as we navigate this newest wave of a mutating virus, it can feel quite heavy and desolate. I encourage you to be gentle with yourselves and with others. As Mary Oliver says, ‘Let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.’ Carve out some time and space for restoration, peace, and comfort. You are deserving of all those things.

“Emblazoned on my heart are the opening lines of John’s Gospel: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” The light may be small and dim, we may not be able to discern it or feel its heat, but we know that it’s here. Love and hope are shining within us, among us, and far beyond us. The light will not and CAN not be extinguished.”

I pray that you all may enjoy a safe, healthy, and joyous Christmastide in the Light of God’s Love and Care among trusted family members and good friends this year and always.

December 19, 2021

We live in dark times, my friends. Not only is the darkness of the night reaching its full effect in the rhythm of our days, but the news from every corner of the globe seems increasingly grim and foreboding. Without question, ours has become a time of overwhelming fear, giving rise to levels of anxiety, worry, apprehension and distrust. The possibilities, if not the realities of war, famine, destruction, disease and death assault our minds, hearts, and our bodies with every news report or opinion piece we encounter either directly or indirectly.

 Sadly, with the relentless onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic raging everywhere we turn for now two full years, killing millions of people the world over, and showing no signs of abating despite our frantic efforts to thwart its advance, our individual lives become increasingly fraught and fractured, and the fabric of our common life frays into tattered bits as the sins of pride, arrogance, selfishness, greed and hatred fan the flames of our own destruction.

 Faced with the enormity of such a relentless adversary, coupled with our collective ambiguity in addressing its advance, driven as we are by confusions, fallacies and lies, suspicion and distrust of one another have not only taken hold, but spread like wildfire through the exploding number of avenues of communication now available to every person who carries a “smart” phone.

 I firmly believe, based upon the record of Our Lord Christ’s time of great temptation in the desert, that evil’s most powerful weapon is confusion, thereby blinding us to the truth about ourselves and our world. “Alternative facts” rather than difference of interpretation or perspective, give expression to the insidious power of evil to twist, corrupt and destroy, prompting us to deny the truth before us and to subvert any effort to address or challenge them.

 And yet, God remains faithful and true as only a God who loves us unconditionally can possibly be. As we will hear once again from the Gospel of John, “What has come into being in God’s Word was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” Seek and find those myriad of places where God is acting to banish the darkness in and around us, and follow the call to be Children of Light serving selflessly to give voice, strength, time and effort into being the Incarnate Body of Christ in our darkened world today. After all, that’s what the “Christ” in “Christmas” is really all about.

November 21, 2021

More than during any other year I can remember in my nearly 70 years of life, other than its customary disturbingly gluttonous overtones, in 2021 our annual national feast of Thanksgiving Day summons us as a people and nation to do some serious soul-searching. Last year, this holiday was obscured by the ever-present fear of sickness and death and the general unfocused anxiety stemming from the pandemic’s assault on the fabric of our American culture, exacerbated by the absolute insanity inflicted on our country by an unhinged president claiming conspiracies and a stolen election despite non-partisan assurances and court findings that the 2020 election was the most secure one ever conducted.

This year, however, if the opportunity to offer thanks to God doesn’t bring us to our knees in fervent prayers of gratitude, humility and hope, then a good bit of the struggle to build a world far more reflective of the Kingdom of God is in serious jeopardy. Life has certainly not returned to “normal”, and in my humble opinion, never should. For “normal” has meant the wealth and sense of well-being in our nation moving ever upward, out of the hands and bank accounts of the many and into the lives of the very few on the Forbes list or whatever measure of financial “success” we employ. It has included the continued and even increased oppression of people of color as well as the poor and marginalized of all colors in ways both blatant and subtle. The value of a good education and the central role of scientific endeavor to improve the lives of every American citizen has been assailed and rejected on multiple levels, leaving us vulnerable to the machinations and manipulations of charlatans and con-artists who have no one’s interest in mind but their own. And the list goes on and on.

 My prayer is that, as we raise grateful hearts in thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God in gatherings both large and small, we will choose to commit ourselves anew to realizing the hopes and dreams of America’s founders, however limited they were by their time and circumstances, to establish our blessed nation on the principle of the God-given equality of all people and our inalienable right to build our lives, individually and collectively, in liberty and in pursuit of happiness. Here is where America’s true exceptionalism begins and flourishes. May it be so. Amen

November 7, 2021, after All Saints' Day

As we enter the final weeks of the Season After Pentecost, the appointed scripture readings direct our attention to what is commonly known as the “last things”. Beginning with the great Feast of All Saints on November 1st, and continuing on through the Feast of Christ the King, the Last Sunday After Pentecost, especially in the Gospel readings the themes for each Sunday take on a more apocalyptic (meaning ‘revealing’) tone. Christ Jesus speaks of the end times in seemingly dire terms, leading us to a deeper understanding of the full outline of the Reign of God to come.

And as you may remember, the dawn of a new Church Year on Advent Sunday doesn’t bring much of a change in tone as the weekly readings encourage us to begin the new cycle with our eyes fixed on the desired end, however cataclysmic it may sound.

But I must admit how absolutely grateful I am that this journey into the “last things” begins with All Saints Day and All Souls Day. Each of these days brings an opportunity to reclaim and renew our membership in the Communion of Saints both here on earth (the Church Militant we used to call it) and in the glorious life of resurrection in heaven (the Church Triumphant). Just as we do in our lifetime, the Saints in Light all knew the struggle, the pain, the stress and suffering of human existence. Yet by the Grace of God, they have passed through the gate of death and live in the fullness of God’s Love.

Perhaps you, like me, need the yearly reminder that we do not walk this journey of life alone. Instead, through the energizing and comforting work of the Holy Spirit we remain connected with those who have gone before, both known and unknown, whose love, devotion, and prayer continue to enfold and surround us. It is good to remember their witness and care as we open the morning paper or however it is we hear about the horrors of our own collective making causing suffering and death among the children of God the world over. May the peace of God reign in our hearts and lives that Holy Love may finally and fully triumph.  Amen

October 10, 2021 no. 2

One of the most amazing, delightful and treasured gifts which God has bestowed upon me, time and time again, surrounds the close relationships I’ve enjoyed with the parishes I’ve served and the members of those faith communities for the past 40 years.  In each and every one, God blessed me with the gift of love and respect for every single parishioner, and for the parish as a whole.  And while each one needed my time and support for many more hours than I was “contracted” to serve, the mutual love which accompanied each ministry made serving there a joy (well, at least 95% of the time).

 In the very short time of 15 months with you, dear people of Trinity Church, God has filled my life with the same, if not greater, blessing.  Over the course of these months, including the masking and distancing of pandemic time, I have come to love each and every one of you as sister or brother in Christ.  Although I stand as a redeemed sinner like the rest of humanity, you have welcomed me into your hearts and lives in ways that are rich and rewarding beyond any merit of my own, making my time with you always a joy. We have shared periods of hope and fear, joy and extreme sorrow as companions along the journey of faith. 

So I thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your loving embrace of this aging priest.  Being with you, and now living among you in your beautiful rectory, has brought a renewed sense of hope and expectation that I believed I would never experience again once I moved to Ulster County.  But as always, God had something in mind which would fill all our lives with love, joy, hope and purpose for the increase of the Reign of God here in Saugerties and beyond.

 With much love and expectation for a bright future for us all,

Charles+

October 10, 2021 no. 1

A Post which appeared on my Facebook feed by Wil Wheaton of Pasadena, California, a young writer whose voice every church member needs to hear, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest.

Charles+

“Portrait of Jesus by digital artist Bas Uterwijk using artificial intelligence, combining traditional iconography and what we know about his ethnicity and culture for the time and region.”

(Posted 10/2/2021 by Damnthatsinteresting on website Reddit)

“This is, apparently, what the actual Jesus of Nazareth looked like, according to an artist and an algorithm and actual, historical, data (as opposed to a story that white people tell each other).
I am an atheist. I do not believe in god, or the devil, or heaven, or hell. But I like and respect this guy. He was a rebel, he was an antiauthoritarian, he dedicated his life to helping the poor, the sick, the indigent, the people who were discarded and rejected by society. He hung out with sex workers and lepers, and gave comfort to the sick and suffering, and he loudly and relentlessly called out the hypocrisy of the church and its leaders. As I understand it, he was like, "Hey, you're a sinner. That's a bummer. Let me help you be a better person. No, I don't expect anything from you for that. I just want to be as loving as I can be." He was a really cool guy.

This guy, in this picture, is not the Jesus I was introduced to in parochial school. The Jesus I was introduced to was soooooo white, like super super super white, and he was keeping an eye on you so he could snitch on you to his dad, who was SUPER PISSED AT EVERYTHING YOU DID all the time for some reason. The Jesus I knew was, like, maybe going to be okay with you, as long as you knew what a giant fuck up you were. And he was absolutely not accepting of anyone who didn’t do exactly what the authority figures at school told us we had to do.

I deeply resent American Christianity. It has brought nothing but pain into my life. I deeply resent and despise evangelical Christians who turned this guy in this picture, who was reportedly a cool, loving, gentle, dude, who was a legit rebel, into someone who hates all the same things they hate, and who LOVES authoritarians the same way they do. I despise the people who do all sorts of cruel, hurtful, hateful things in this guy's name. And they are EVERYWHERE in America.

I don’t know what it’s like in the rest of the world. What I do know is that, in America, this person has been perverted into a weapon, a cudgel, to be used against the same people the actual Jesus loved and stood up for. It's disgusting.

And, look, if someone professes to follow the teachings of this dude, whose WHOLE F***ING THING was “love everyone. Period. No exceptions”, and they don’t, like, do that? They are as bad as the money changers in the temple. I know that this dude loves them, because that’s his whole thing, but I suspect that, if this dude exists, he is disappointed and maybe a little embarrassed by them.

As an afterthought: I can't stop thinking about how this dude was an immigrant, and poor. I keep thinking that, if he showed up in ... let's say Texas, today, how badly he would be treated by the very same people who use his name and pervert his teachings to exert control over the very same people Jesus spent his entire life looking after.”

September 26, 2021

“34Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ ” (Matthew 25)

 It has been said by people much wiser than I am that the greatest hallmark of an advanced civilization lies in how it treats the smallest and most vulnerable in its midst—the child, the poor, the sick, the disabled, the refugee, the prisoner, the outcast, the elder, the dying, and, for far too many centuries, the woman. You may remember that it is with these often marginalized and forgotten members of society with whom Jesus spent a great deal of time, ministering to them as any had need.

 While far too many of our evangelical fundamentalist brothers and sisters would seemingly prefer to ignore this reality of faithful living completely, they are all too ready to inflict their view on the rest of us when it comes to the sad reality of abortion.  Personally, I consider myself both pro-life and pro-choice, one who is deeply saddened by the necessity for abortions in our world, but one who will never deny a woman or a couple their ability to choose what is best for them in this life.  For as one of my favorite writers and speakers, Sister Joan Chittester,a Roman Catholic Benedictine nun,  has stated repeatedly:

 “I do not believe that just because you are opposed to abortion, that makes you pro-life. In fact, I think that in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born and not a child fed, a child educated, a child housed. And why would I think that you don’t? Because you don’t want any tax money to go there. That’s not pro-life. That’s pro-birth.”

 Yes, I will dance a jig and praise God with Hallelujahs when abortion is no longer necessary because we have finally learned to take proper care of the smallest and most vulnerable from conception to the grave. Sadly, we are a long way from there. So Jesus weeps, as do I.