MORGAN'S MOMENT...
We watch pelican’s do their kamikaze act
       in the Baja waters
       crashing in quest of silvery fish.
One staggers ashore neck askew
       broken fatally we fear
       on a hidden rock.
Not long later vultures soar
       with death detectors zeroing in
       to clean up as nature requires.
A rough cross stands nearby
       planted by Padres on retreat
       to sanctify the beach.
This cross of death arid life
       is not empty
       in the heat of afternoon sun.
A vulture is perched on the cross
       preening its claim
       of life following death.
Someone has placed flowers
       around the foot of the cross
       to beautify or beatify?
I’m sorry for the pelican
       but understand the vulture on the cross
       who lives because another has died.
— Art Morgan 
BOOK CORNER
Another Tony Hillerman mystery for reading during days in Baja was “The Blessing Way.” Navajo mysticism, fascinates with itS sense of whole life spirituality.
Steinbeck makes me think, and his “Log from the Sea of Cortez" adds many philosophical excursions beyond his scientific expedition. I’ve read him during every trip to Baja and found fresh thought each time.
“Bearing Witness—A Zen Master’s Lessons in Making Peace” by Bernie Glassman provided some balance between the world of hell in which many struggle for life, and the world of paradise with warm water and sandy beaches where we spent a few days. His retreats immerse people into circumstances one cannot possibly comprehend in any other way. He is Zen Buddhist by way of Judaism. He extends ecumenicity far beyond anything most imagine possible.
MOMENT MINISTRIES
May 9, 2003
home address:  25921 SW Airport Ave.
Corvallis, OR 97333   541-753-3942
email at  a-morgan@peak.org
THURSDAY MAY 15
The last scheduled Thursday Night Moment is this Thursday evening.
Gather from 6, Potluck at 6:30.
Another good moment season concludes in May.
One more chance to share the songs and thoughts
of the moment. The important thing is to meet and
talk and share life and maybe even stir the spirit a
bit. We’ll try.
ENDING AND BEGINNING
We follow the academic year. So the local Moment
season ends in May (with rare exceptions allowed).
We move to the cabin around Memorial Day and
stay into September. (Paul and I both have
ministering dates in the summer. We both led
memorial services in May.)
As so many know, we run an “open table” kind of
camp. There are almost always bunks for those
who drop by. Some make “reservations” to hang
out a day or so. In fact, some already have done
so. Bring something to sleep in, something to wear,
something to share and you’re in. It’s another
aspect of Moment Ministries.
Best contact is via e-mail. We are in the Gig Harbor
Directory at 1-253-884-2771. Mail reaches us at
2412 N Herron Rd, Lakebay WA 98349. We’ll give
directions to those who have need.
There was a time in the fall when we felt sure we had a sign that it was time to close Moment Ministries. The group was at its smallest and we were out of money. Our vow from the beginning was never to promote either attendance or money. We put in a check to cover us through Christmas, thinking we might not start up after. Surprisingly, with no asking, checks volunteered themselves. Christmas time expenses were covered. Our balance insists that we keep publishing through the fall, at least. Participation at events renewed, so that we feel compelled to continue gatherings. A day of ending is surely ahead, but not yet. Thanks to all who share in the ongoing of Moment Ministries.

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BY REASON OF STRENGTH
The years of our days are three-score and ten, or by reason of strength, four-score. (Psalm 90)
        I’m writing on my birthday. I’ve completed another year of life. It’s not a decade-buster, so won’t get extra attention, it is still a mortality awareness moment.
        There was a time when. I had the notion that the Bible had good information on the human journey. My ideas have changed about what that all means, but some wisdom is not to be denied. One source of wisdom is Psalm 90.
        It speaks stark reality. No pie in the sky. We are like grass that flourishes, then dries up and blows away. Hardly much comfort.
        The psalmist dares estimate just how tong we might live. It is surprising how his estimates match
current mortality tables.
        When I first read this passage I had no clue what a “score” was. Somehow I learned that a “score”
meant twenty. I was old enough to multiply and interested enough to know a prediction of my longevity. 3 x 20 = 60 + 10= 70.
        When you are 10 years old, 70 seems very, very old. In those years my parent’s age of around 40 seemed old. My grandparents were around 60, which was exceedingly old. Social Security was a new thing that was based on the idea that people lived to be about 67. 1 thought that living to be 70 would be a fortunate thing indeed. l would be grateful to have our years equal the biblical promise.
        What no 10 year-old realizes is that three score and ten doesn’t seem so long when you get there. Nor can you imagine how fast the years pass and how soon you arrive. I’ve spent a couple of years living with three score and ten. Forget that goal. Now the aim is for four score.
        There’s a qualifier in there. By reason of strength.
        I was never sure what that meant. What I do know is that any length of life takes a great amount of good luck. The luck of good genes is important. But there are all sorts of other things both within and outside our personal control that allow life to cOntinue. We all know of those whose lives did not reach the biblical numbers. They loved life and longed for it as much as the rest of us.
        Strength has different forms. Some gritty people seem to keep on keeping on. Some inner vitality
carries them through the problems and threats of life. They have a strength. Some talk about a will to life.
        This spring I signed up for a Community College class at a local gym called Weight Training for Seniors. I thought I’d give it a shot, not so much to gain strength for longevity, but to get in shape for a summer of activity and sailing. I hoped the old folks wouldn’t mind my joining them. It turns out that I am the next oldest person in the class. As I tested myself on the various training devices I soon realized that the muscles don’t stretch and flex like they used to do. Some didn’t seem to work at all.
        The instructor promised that in a few weeks I would be able to bend over and pick up my grandchildren without hurting my back. I laughed; I can’t reach high enough to pick up my grandchildren. He changed his promise to You’re going to feel better and younger.
        Now he was talking to my interest. I hadn’t thought about feeling younger. That’s when memory of the psalmists’ words came to mind...by reasons of strength.
        I fully realize that it is possible to sit and rest oneself into weakness and old age. You can’t get stronger by resting. That’s why I’m at the gym, pushing my limits three days a week.
        But that’s not all there is to strength for reaching four score. Many heading through those years need a strength that is more than physical. All too many of my friends in this decade of life are living with very limiting and discouraging infirmities that they can’t do much about. I live in awe ‘and wonder at the weight these people lift and carry every day, weight far greater than anything the gym requires. Hip, knee, heart valve and other replacements have been endured. Bearing other necessary losses that come with age, living with and beyond the grief of loss of life companions, and so many other troubles of life testifies to a strength that younger people cannot match or even imagine. Credit for strength is rarely claimed ‘personally, but credited to God who girded me with strength. (Ps 18:32)
        So I went to the gym on my birthday to work on my strength. But I came home remembering that the kind of strength I’ll need most as I hope four score cannot be ‘found in the gym.
Art Morgan, May 9, 2003