“Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blest”*

by chuckofish

Plexiglass dividers between the seats are so flattering.

I think daughter #1 had a pretty great birthday what with an after-school trip to the zoo with the wee babes and a party at home afterwards (just the fam).

The zoo train is the best.
But sometimes there are bad smells at the zoo. C’est la vie.

On Saturday after FaceTiming with wee Katie, daughter #1 and I really got down to business in the basement.

We went through bins and consolidated a lot of stuff, throwing away a lot on the way.

It was glorious. We still have more to go through, but I am very pleased. There is nothing like getting organized to soothe the soul.

After a trip to the recycling center with a load of cardboard, we stopped at Club Taco for to-go margaritas and guacamole. Then we settled in for a long music session, listening to a cache of CDs from the 1990s we found in the basement.

Good times.

More cowbell!

One of the scripture lessons on Sunday was from Romans:

Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of
quarreling over opinions. Some believe in eating anything, while the
weak eat only vegetables. Those who eat must not despise those who
abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who
eat; for God has welcomed them. Who are you to pass judgment on
servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall.
And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.
Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all
days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. Those
who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who
eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while
those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to
God.
We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we
live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then,
whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end
Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead
and the living.
Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why
do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written,
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall give praise to God.”
So then, each of us will be accountable to God. (14:1-12)

Let’s try to get through the week without passing judgment on our brothers and sisters, shall we? I know it’s hard, but c’mon.

*Henry Van Dyke, “Hymn to Joy” (Van Dyke wrote this poem in 1907 while staying at the home of Williams College president Harry Augustus Garfield. He was serving as a guest preacher at Williams at the time. He told his host that the local Berkshire Mountains had been his inspiration.)