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| Yosemite Valley - October 2022 |
The year 2022 is about to give way to 2023. The past few years have been rather challenging and 2022 was no exception. COVID has ebbed and flowed. Politics has dominated our conversations once again as the 2022 Mid-terms came and went. Depending on your perspective there were positives and negatives. The overturning of Roe v. Wade by the SCOTUS proved to be a major issue along with the continued election denials on the part of Trump and his supporters. Then there is the war in Ukraine, which is proving Vladimir Putin to be the tyrant many of us thought him to be. Of course, not all news has been bad or controversial. For the rest of this final posting of 2022, I will highlight the positives
I will begin with my post-retirement service at First Presbyterian Church of Troy. I started what proved to be an 8-month preaching assignment in October of 2021, as I filled in for the congregation's pastor who was deployed by the National Guard to the Middle East. I continue to preach there once a month and have thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity. They are a gracious faith community. Interestingly, while I have been doing pulpit supply at First Troy and other Presbyterian Churches, I served as an Ecumenical Advisory Delegate to the PCUSA General Assembly in July, representing the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). I spent nearly a week in Louisville serving on the PCUSA GA Ecumenical and Interreligious committee.
While I've been hanging out with Presbyterians in retirement, I also serve the Disciples as Co-Chair of the ELCA-Disciples Bilateral Dialogue. That has been an interesting experience. All of this is to say, I'm staying busy in retirement.
While 2022 didn't see the publication of any new titles, I did contribute an article to a forthcoming book on deconstructing the idea of hell and completed small books on Salvation and the nature of God for Energion Publications. Perhaps the biggest news is that Ron Allen and I have completed a book titled
Second Thoughts About the Second Coming: Understanding the End Times, Our Future, and Christian Hope, (Westminster John Knox, 2023). You will want to get a copy---for those who like audiobooks, I just found out that it is being licensed for audio as well.
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| Bandon, Oregon |
During the year we didn't make many big trips, but we did visit Oregon, including a visit to Bandon on the Oregon Coast and Mount Shasta, California.
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Mount Shasta, California
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| Half Dome |
During our visit to the Central Valley of California, we visited Yosemite National Park (my first visit), where we got to experience the Mariposa Grove of Sequoias and Yosemite Valley. Going there on a Sunday/Monday in October works pretty well. Thought Yosemite Falls is only a trickle!
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| Mariposa Grove |
Among other things, Mayor Ethan Baker invited me and three of my friends - Amin, Nasy, and Ed offered an interfaith prayer at the Troy, Michigan State of the City Address.
These are just a few of the things I got to do this past year. To close, I'll post one of the paintings from the recent Van Gogh in America exhibit at the Detroit Institute of Arts:
So, welcome 2023! I get to welcome the new year by providing pulpit supply at a Presbyterian Church (Northminster this time). May the new year offer new beginnings for us all!
1 O sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord; bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples.
(Psalm 96)
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