Living in coronaviriusworld 254: Third Sunday in Lent, WInter lingers on..

 3/5

RBG visits our local Venezulean coffee shop

On Saturday, the NewYork City Presbytery held its fifth "virtual" meeting. And after all this time, there are still serious glitches. The Moderator running the meeting vanishes into cyber space and as Moderator Elect, it falls to me to step in and take over.  So much for our rehearsal and carefully worked out script.

Our family from across the country enjoys our weekly gatherings in my mother's ZOOM room.  If we get the last meeting of the day, we can usually stretch it beyond the allotted 15 minutes. Its the most we've all been in the some place at the same time since her 90th birthday party almost 3 years ago. But I still want to know when I can go see her in person. 

the "Relics"

Pat O

After four months,  Bar 9 has opened up for live music again.  I have to go do that. It takes getting used to.  Maybe it can last this time.

3/6

And the Beverley congregation gathers on "conference call" once again...here's what I had to say:

SO it’s that time of year when we start to get a little impatient. We’re stretching towards spring, but you still wake up and it’s under 30. The winter will linger…I spent five days in Florida…I’d get up first thing and put on my shorts and t shirt and walk for half an hour in the sun and then sit and have my breakfast by the pool. I fully intended to keep my prebreakfast walks going when I came back home but the first morning I woke up and it was 25 degrees, I’m like, uh, nooo….we’re straining towards spring…winter lingers on..

We’ve had our vaccinations or are waiting for our vaccinations, or just trying to figure out how to get them. We open more an more and yet…still….I sat in ballparks at 20% capacity …everyone in masks…no cash handling…only cards...we’re back but we’re not and just saying we are, like Texas or Mississippi, doesn’t make it so..we’re straining for spring…winter is lingering on…yesterday was our 5th virtual Presbytery meeting…

We begin to get impatient…

Well…talk about impatient…let’s talk about Jesus…in today’s gospel lesson, he flat out loses it.  He walks into the temple, turns over tables of money changers, scatters their coins and drives out all the sheep and cattle with a whip!  What happened to gentle Jesus meek and mild?

This is one of the few gospel stories that is in all 4 gospels. SO you figure something like this had to have happened. But check out the differences…they matter. In the other gospels, this event happens at the end of Jesus’ ministry, after his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. And becomes the kind of last straw that seals his fate with the religious authorities. 

In John, it’s at the very beginning of his ministry, right after he turns the water into wine at the wedding at Cana in Galilee. It's is this “cleansing the temple” that defines his ministry. 

Note a couple of other things…he drives out the cattle and sheep, not the people.  In the other gospels, he accuses the vendors of cheating, of creating a den of thieves in the temple. But not in John. What’s going on?And why is he so mad?

First, what are they doing? Any good worship service at the temple requires sacrificing animals, actually a sheep. But for those of lesser means, a dove will do.  And to pay for these, people can’t use they regular money because their empire money has portraits of Caesar on it, not kosher, so they have to trade their empire money for temple money. If the temple is going to exist at all, they need people doing these jobs. The gift shops are needed. 

Again, why is Jesus upset? Not because they are dishonest.

First, there is the issue of exploitation. The cost, even just for doves, was just too high.

Second, this whole system of sacrificing animals puts a barrier between the people and God.

And finally, peoples' desire to be in relationship with God has become monetized and is being used for material gain.

In John, Jesus is not saying they are being dishonest, he’s saying the whole idea is wrong. You don’t need to be killing animals to make God happy. You don’t need special rituals or even a priest standing between you and God, And you sure better not be trying to sell a connection to God. 

In a sentence, Jesus is saying you don’t need the temple. 

They don’t understand what he’s saying about the temple. Which leads to a conversation of classic misunderstanding. It's taken 46 years to build,  He’s going to do a complete reboot in 3 days?

What Jesus is saying is at the very center of what we celebrate at Christmas, the incarnation. God becoming human. And if God is present in Jesus, if God abides in Jesus, that’s all you need. Don’t need no temple. Nor St. Peter’s Basilica, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, St.John the Divine,Riverside, 5th Avenue Pres or Brick. You just need Jesus. Follow me? No wonder he upset people.

Certainly from Oral Roberts' prayer cloths, endowed stained glass  windows, we keep finding ways to sell peoples’ desire to get close to God. 

So I’d like us to ask some questions of ourselves on this Sunday.

1. What tables would Jesus overturn today? Can you name them?
2. What barriers do we put up between people and God?  How can we begin to deconstruct them?
3. To what extent has our church been monetized, that is, what happens when a church is completely dependent on rental income, say? 
4. Jesus drives out the sheep and cattle. The vendors remain. Probably pretty shaken, but still there. What happens next? What does he say to them? Could we find ourselves comfortable worshipping with money changers and animal sellers? Catholic priests? (Rabbis? Imams?)

This message is especially valuable in coronavirusworld. We don’t need to be in our building to feel close to God. We can see each other on screens and hear each others’ voices over the phone and can feel God’s presence in our midst.

Jesus has done a radical thing.  He’s taken away every barrier between us and our God. We don’t have to go any special place or perform any special ritual…God is with s…Jesus is all the temple we need..

During our season of waiting…during our season of straining towards spring, towards release from the captivity and exile of covid, let us seek to remove any barriers we may have place between our self and others, our self and knowing that our house and every house can be the house of God if we only can be open to it. Jesus is all the temple we need. ‘

Amen…..

Our family gathers from across the sea again. My oldest son is growing more and more restless with Germany's complete lockdown. For fewer and fewer discernible reasons. Texas looks more appealing to him all the time. We can't believe it's been since a year ago August since we've seen our grandchildren. 

                                                  ****

13The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” 17His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” 19Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 22After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

iving in coronavirusworld 208: Bars and churches....

 

11/14

yes there is....

and we voted...

Going to the framer’s market, it’s hard to believe it was just a week ago the announcement can that Biden was declared president. A weekly visit here one more marker I’ve created to give structure to the week. And something about food right from the farms that is comforting. 

I spend the afternoon trying to learn new songs for the (now_) open mic at Bar 9. The summer show case is over. Much as I dislike it, I’m taking the directive tofocus on upbeat covers seriously.  And actually enjoying it. Learning a Rubber Soul era Beatles  song and discovering many of these songs are more complex than meets the eye.

In the gathering darkness, I meet my friend Beppe with craft spirits from the farmers’ market. It’s getting colder.  We’re beginning to wonder how we are going handle these outdoor meetings now that the virus is spiking again. Beppe and I share the same feeling. That  March feels like yesterday and last week a year ago.  He too had been pulled out into the streets by the surging wave of joyous people as the news spread. We know we are close to it being over. But thousands of Trump supporters rallied in DC today.  Including Qanons and Proud Boys and who knows who else. And I realize although it’s not objectively true, in Trunpland’s alternate universe it's Black Lives Matter and Antifa striking fear in the hearts of the faithful.  And we continue to be anxious about what happens next.

We the Whole People

Time Square vendor

Times Square

I join my classical music friends for a concert in a rehearsal studio, safely distanced of course. A concert with the timely theme of We the Whole People. (Inspired by a quote from Susan B Anthony: It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union. )And only 10 live audience members. To get the subway home, I walk through Times Square, again amazed at how full of life it is…without tourists …apart from the ‘B&T (bridge and tunnel) visitors from the outer boros and Jersey.  City people have made this their own playground. Young women striking sexy poses for their boyfriends with the Times Square lights behind them. 

11/15

in my neighborhood

My Sunday morning routine…when I wake early enough…is a Sunday Times and coffee and a pastry at the Venezuelan Monkey Cup cafe. Early morning. 

My friend Run leads West Park’s virtual service. Moved that he uses my song”Listen” from my new release. (

                                                                     Listen

 He takes the story of the talents and servant in a different direction than we went last Monday in Bible Study. His focus is more on the side of risks we need to take for the sake of the kingdom. And not hiding what you’ve got. It’a small but good group.

My son in Berlin is frustrated by the German spike and its impact on his students.  They had worked for weeks preparing for a concert performance. Families would be allowed to come.  But that was canceled and only live streaming allowed.  He wonders at the logic of it. These students are much less likely to get sick. Why are commercial stores allowed to remain open? And school events canceled? What is essential about headphones or North Face jackets or lamps? Choices. Not always data driven. 

At Stony Point, New York, a tea is being held to honor Rick and Kitty Ufford-Chase, co-directors.  As I watch on ZOOM, I can feel the coolness of the air 40 miles up the Hudson from the city.. That deep fall feel under overcast skies. I can almost taste it as I watch it, having been there. Eleven yeast of creative, groundbreaking ministry brought to a halt by Covid 19.  (And a limited institutional creativity…as I’ve said  vision  and institution are incompatible realties…) The air is heavy with sadness. And yes, for sure, thanksgiving. And even hope.  But what we have loved is gone. As the camera zooms around the circle, I catch sights of places that have meant so much to me. Locked down.  I count the groups I’ve been here with:

the Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness and Housing 

The Interfaith Center of New York City Marshall Meyer social justice retreats

the International Sanctuary Declaration project took shape and form here

My own congregation, West Park

The Presbyterian Church USA Central American Task Force initial meeting

Presbyteiran Health Eucation and Welfare Association

That all May Freely Serve’s gathering of 4 decades of friends engaged in the struggle for full inclusion of lgbtq people in the church, to make sure the history was preserved

My friend Zeljko bringing his film about the Serbian Colonel who shot down an American stealth fighter pilot…and both pilots …to speak to a national women’s group..

                                                          Second meeting

I mean I wrote my doctoral dissertation here….many of the meetings were to reimagine and envision a ministry, often with Rick’s help…Rick and Kitty are of course gracious…but as the testimonies die down, the pain cuts really deep.  Much grief here.

I try my new song out at Bar 9. The whole night goes fast because they’ve now declared bars must close by 10. I mean we’re done playing by 8:30. As I play, I keep thinking about watching the Linda Ronstadt movie last night. Realizing her value as perhaps the greatest interpreter of American music of all kinds. And ho when you do it well, the song becomes yours. 

As we finish, the wind picks up, the rain comes down in torrents. My friend texts me: tornado warning! We meet at the Gate anyways as it all dies down. The more we talk about it, the more the 10’oclock rule appears to be a cosmetic compromise gesture with no scientific data informing it. Bars and churches, struggling to hold on.

Living in Coronavirusworld 195: Still radioactive out there

 

10/24

October

The young man who lives with me’s younger sister died—of Covid— in Mississippi.  So he and his sister drove all the way through the night to get there on time for the funeral. Anxious to be back in time for work, he flew back and reported only to discover that because Mississippi is on the “bad list” he would have to quarantine for two weeks. And so he is housebound. 

The morning vote line

As I head outside at 10:30 am, there is a line all round the avenue’s block of people waiting to vote as “early voting” has begun. 

A friend has come from Pittsburgh to celebrate her birthday. We’re meeting to tour the Harlem Audobon Bird Murals. Painted by various artists all through Audobon’s old Harlem neighborhood. (https://www.audubon.org/amp) What I find interesting is our responses to Covid. This is my friend’s first venture out of Pittsburgh. Filled with anxiety about the airport and plane. Mask and goggles. She is the first house guest since the lockdown for her friends from Alphabet City. They come to Harlem via car since neither has been on the subway or bus since March. Slowly …and cautiously…they are beginning to check things out. I find this common among friends my age. We are all more careful. It’s leaving the fallout shelter. But it’s still radioactive out there. 

bluebird

Audobon birds

Diana and her owl

Audobon grave

In the midst of birds, a memorial: we are still dying

The murals…it takes someone from out of town tell you about something you’ve missed right in your own neighborhood. Some are sketchy. Some are spectacular and arresting. Some have been graffitied already.  It’s wonderfully and typically urban in scope and execution. We walk through the streets of this Audubon neighborhood where the immigrant from the Caribbean built his estate neighboring that of his West Indies predecessor Alexander Hamilton. The former 

BeauxArt headquarters of the American Geographic Society was the base of operations for various famous polar expeditions, including  the (Lady)Franklin Polar Exedition, is in the same neighborhood.  We go to the Trinity Church Cemetery to visit Audobon’s grave before finishing our tour. 

after lunch

Eating Seneglese food under the  canopy at Les Ambasades feels like a normal visit. But the car ride with open windows was a reminder it is not. 

Fauci has respect in the hood

Later there’s another walk. Meeting in Morningside, walking through Central Park noting the slowly changing colors as yellow and browns are appearing along with steadily falling leaves. The Public Schools seem to be settling into pattern. But I just heard that my alma mater, after opening, has now shut down again. Both us are filled  with anxiety regarding the election. Earlier at lunch, the other man at the table forbade political talk. 

afternoon line

As I head home, the line still runs around the block. This makes me feel good. 

10/25

Take a morning off from church. As I step out for coffee and the Sunday Times, I see the round the block line again. My neighbor, who sit outside and watches the street, says people began arriving at 7:30AM and where still there, even in the sub 50’ weather. (9’C) Some has waited three hours the day before without getting to vote. 

In our Sunday "international chat"

, our son tells us Germany is up to 900 new cases a day now. He’s more and more convincingly that Covid is there and is not going away and can’t be controlled. Questioning the renewed imposition of protocols. The very thought of being quarantined for two weeks with two preschoolers is daunting. His brothers teasingly accuse him of sounding like a Trump supporter. He replies the difference is that he believes in science and knows it’s real. I know what the protocols are doing to my mom.

Bar 9

It’s cold and drizzling as I make it to Bar9. What once was We Love Songwriters has become something else. Last week there was memo asking us to focus on upbeat covers. This week’s memo banned songs with religious or political references. The owner is worried about business.  He’s now lost some artists without appreciable gain in audience. Only one patron has come indoors. Something about the temperature check and id gathering puts people off. (Though all of us performers have to do it. When I get up to sing, the previous performer’s "mic condom" is still on. I  call on the host to remove it…)The rest of us huddle (well kind of, distanced) outdoors as we drink our beers and eat our wings and talk about recording in these corona days. It’s going to be a long winter. 

Living in coronavirusworld 171: We are getting by

 

9/20

9th Avenue Sunday night

It was supposed to be my first visit to a New York City church since the virus took over.  It was to be a memorial service for a stalwart couple who had kept the church going. Who died one week apart of Covid19. When I started out, I discovered the A train had derailed so I had to get an Uber all the way out to Ozone Park. Looking forward to being with this congregation of Indians from Trinidad and the West Indies. While waiting for the church to open, I find a Polish deli left over from the days when this section was filled with immigrants from Poland. As the church remains locked, I discover I have gotten the day wrong, It was yesterday, My reopening experience will have  to wait.

Russ leads the worship service for West Park focusing on Matthew 18: 21-35. He includes Malvina Reynolds classic “It isn’t nice” and a clip  from Lewis CK about fairness. 

                                                Malvina Reynolds "It isn't nice"
(“The only reason you ever look into the otther person’s pot is to make sure they’ve  got enough…”), well and me, playing Dylan’s “The Times They are a Changin’” He tries to move the conversation beyond one of fairness towards God’s reversal of status, but it's hard. People are interested in the  transformation that has to take place to get there. No matter what time you start to work, everybody’s got to have a living wage. That’s how it is in God’s kingdom. Not easy to get there.

We celebrate Rosh Ha Shana with my son in Brooklyn.  With raisin bread challah French toast from the round loaf I bought at the farmers’ market and bacon. Joined by our son in Berlin where life has all but returned to normal.

Turns out to be my best night yet at Bar 9. All it tales is one person listening to lift me up. Then more are. Somebody’s shooting a video. People ask where to get my music. Name other songs they wanted to hear. The air feels like September. Like fall. I wonder how many more nights we can do this. We have to enjoy every one.  As I walk up the street, I see people together, drinking, singing. “…Tiny dancer…” along with the singer at the piano. Lights sparkle and dance on 9th Avenue. We are getting by.

Living in coronavirusworld 166: It would look something like this

 9/12

Hope for Harlem

I look out on Saturday modeming to see that First Corinthian Baptist has filled the entire block with tabes and bags. Filled with school supplies of all kinds. Food, both prepared and groceries. Household products of all kind, It’s a daylong project called “Hope for Harlem.” That’s what FCBC does. They make hope concrete and consistent. All the time. That’s what being the urban church in the global city is all about. 

125th Street kiosk

Little Afrrica

Loving the open air street festival  that 125th is, especially oh Saturdays. Vendors of all kinds. “Black Lives Matter” merch ubiquitous.  The African  women vendors with favors and African foods line 116th, the heart of Little Africa.

The streets are blocked off as part of the city’s “open streets” program. We meet where we had planned on 116 and Fredrick Douglass. But every restaurant has its own DJ and competing sounds are blasting into  the street. We get our food at the Jamaican seafood place and retreat to the north end of  Morningside Park. Sharing food. And conversation. “ I miss the quiet” she says. I do too. The sound of birds in Central Park…

9/13

Play an “oldie,” ‘Just as I am” in a Sunday morning service led by Dion that focuses on forgiveness. Great that Amberley, who used to visit from Toronto, now joins us regularly on ZOOM.

Our family gathers for its weekly visit. We’re talking about the northwest, social unrest, armed groups, some shooting. Fire fed orange skies. City streets filled with smoke, Populations evacuated. My oldest son in Berlin says, ‘I don’t know if there is a God. But if there was, and that God wanted to get our attention, I think it would look a lot like this…”  My friends in Portland living in the midst of apocalypse. 

Gov. David Patterson

At Bar 9, I do my set with no “unforced errors.” Even without my harmony singer. She shows a little later. We see someone who looks like Fred Armisen from Saturday Night Live. Which would  not be a surprise since SNLfolks hang out here. My friend remembers how Armisen played former New York  Governor David Patterson on the show. She asks the host if that is indeed Fred Armisen, "No", he says , "that’s they Governor.” So we had David Patterson as Fred Armisen as David Patterson. 

Dan Smith will teach you guitar

The Governor heard it through the Grapevine 

The Governor is there as special guest of living legend Dan Smith.  Mr. Smith is a quintessential New York City story. Over 20 years his self made flyers with his face and “Dan Smith Will Teach You Guitar”. Have been seen in delis, bodegas, laundromats. Kiosks. He has made his way into the city’s collector consciousness. Tonight Bar 9 is celebrating (unofficially) Dan Smith Night. Free t-shirts for performers! The Governor tells how he found the flyer and his wife insisted he call.  Dan Smith changed my life, says the Governor.  Then we get to hear the Governor back up Dan on “Stand by Me” and take the lead on “I heard it through the grapevine.’ I love New York City.  Even in coronavirusworld. 

Living in coronaviruswolrd 160 : Labor Day Sunday

9/6

prophetic words on a mailbox

On the way to Monkey Cup. On a mail box, appropriately 

Doing back to back virtual worship services can be exhausting. It was good to have a quiet morning in la venezuelita of the Monkey Cup with the Times before starting to work. The first service is with my old congregation West Park and the second with Beverley from Brooklyn. I thought of them yesterday on  Q train when we passed that stop on the way to the beach. Many is the Sunday I’d hop off there and walk the ten blocks to the church. Here’s what I had  to say:

We lost two people from the world of sports this week. Tom Seaver, more than any other player, made the Mets a team worthy of respect. Was a major reason the Mets won that miraculous 1969 World Series. And it’s not always remembered the after the series, he and his wife took out an ad in the Times that said,”If the Mets can win the World Series, the US can get out of Vietnam.” (An idea not universally  popular in 1969 New York.)And I’ll always remember William Sloane Coffin, Jr in Yale Chapel saying getting to sing Beethoven’s 9th was like “…watching Seaver on the mound.”

And we lost John Thompson, who in his own way, as coach of Georgetown University,  showed college basketball that black lives mattered. 

There are too many people walk around this country right now with guns pointed at each other. Just sayin. And it occurred to me, if you own a gun like that, you probably want to use it.

Labor Day Weekend. The end of a summer that never really began. So much of what defines summer for me…summer picnics with friends on the Great Lawn with the Philharmonic, waiting in line for Shakespeare tickets, my seats at Yankee Stadium,(make your own list)  just never happened.  I saw a Pumpkin Spice sign at Dunkin Donuts and almost screamed “No, not yet, too soon, too soon.”

And here we are, virtual again.  For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”  That’s one of those Bible passages we all like a lot. Especially when attendance is low, It’s reminder that Jesus is still there.  We don’t often remember, however, the context within which he says this.  The passage comes at the end of what appears to be a process of conflict resolution between two church members. As you read it, it is personal.  It’s a reminder that in the Jewish tradition, during the high holy days, if you have hurt another, you have to seek their forgiveness before you can seek God’s forgiveness. 

Earlier in Matthew,95:23-4) he says:

 23 Therefore if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there before the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.…

There used to be a communion practice that if you came to the table with anything against anyone, you were supposed to go deal with it before communing. Especially another congregant. What if we did that today?

What’s laid out is not a bad process. The 2-3 witnesses are the basis of things like needing 2 witnesses for a wedding, or in Pennsylvania for a Quaker wedding, 2 witnesses is all you need, not even a clergy person. The one iffy part is about treating tweet unrepentant (at least unresponsive ones)”… as a Gentile or tax collector.” Which sounds pretty bad until you remember how Jesus treated gentiles and tax collectors…He loved them.  Gene Peterson helps us understand what’s going in here in his translation The Message  he says, “You’ve get to start all over.” One who doesn’t respond has essentially removed themselves from the community and you’ve got to go back to square one with them. 

And ultimately, thats what this passage is about…preserving and strengthening community. The restoration of relationship is necessary for a strong community.

At the beginning, when Jesus says “If another member of the church” the Greek literally says “brother.” A church relationship is to be like that of family, which will always have ups and downs. Families are noted for holding grudges and not speaking, Yeah, that happens. But if a community is going to survive, members have to know how to have hard conversations with people. And we have to remember that Jesus is always there in our midst and a yes on earth is a yes in heaven.

I have often believed that the most important question that should be asked of a prospective new member is  do you promise to resolve conflicts in community?  I can tell you that as a pastor, my worst experience was trying to resolve conflicts between members. And the worst was when people played them out on email and both got mad and left without ever actually facing and speaking  to the other person. And all too often, both parties wanted me to set the other person straight and blamed me for the outcome and both would get mad and leave. I just didn’t know how to do it. I got my Mennonite training too late. ( Conflict resolution should be a required course in seminary….along with basic economics…and as an old friend says, toilet repair.)

Look here’s the bottom line…before any mission statement or strategic plan , there is one basic question, are you, and the others here, committed to being part of this community? Without that, nothing else can work.  On the other hand, where 2-3 people committed to community are gathered, Jesus is there with them, and that can work wonders. If you have 6-8 people committed to each other, and I mean really and truly committed, willing to ask hard questions and hang in….6-8 people can move mountains And 12? 12? We know what 12 can do…they can change the world…

Let those with ears to hear listen….I mean really listen…Amen…

Both churches are dealing  with the effects of Covid. West Park has bene closed without income from rentals to other congregations. No real programming has taken place at the center. At least one member and three church family related people have died. Beverley's rental congregation has not paid rent since February arguing that with no access, why should they pay? So Beverley has difficulty paying supply pastors. The virus takes its toll.

In our afternoon family ZOOM session, my son in Berlin feels New York City with all the early deaths, may have hit herd immunity stage. If New York’s death rate were extrapolated nationally, 5.4 million people would have  died.  (Stat modeling, Columbia U.)We keep on with all the protocols nevertheless. 

John Ragusa and Pat O  

 I arrive at Bar 9 and discover I’m going on half an hour earlier than expected. My vocalist isn’t even here yet. In my first songs, I completely lose the lyrics and even one of the tunes. My mind goes blank. I have to scramble to cover. Luckily I’ve got another 6songs  to go . I retreat to familiar ground. By the time my singer joins me, we finish strong. My friends Pat O and Olda are performing in front of live people for the first time  in 6 months. Olda’s got his singer and Pat has John Ragusa’s magic flute. It’s good to have so many friends together again in the same place after so long. Normalish, as she says. 

Olda and Kristina

Matthew 18: 15-20

15 “If another member of the church[a] sins against you,[b] go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one.[c] 16 But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”

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