MORGAN'S MOMENT...
“It’s like you got a new brain”
       so a well-meaning friend
       said to encourage me.
“You’ll have so much memory
       that you can’t use it all”
       he promised confidently.
I already have more memory
       mostly unused I fear…
       100 billion brain neurons worth.
So knowing friends nudged
       unknowing me
       into buying a new computer.
It may have more memory
       but its mind is more scattered
       than my own.
My own brain was called into action
       as I spent hours accomplishing
       a “simple assembly.”
The computer didn’t have a chance
       with a mere 80 gigabytes
       against my 100 billion brain neurons.
I think I lost my mind
        when I believed I needed
        more memory.
I marvel at the miracle of computers
        but I have holy awe
        for the wonder of the mind.
— Art Morgan 
 
BOOK CORNER
It’s time I listed some of Jean’s recently read books:
Delivered from Distraction: Getting the Most out of life with Attention Deficit Disorder, Ed Hollowell
Write it Down, Make it Happen, Henrietta Klauser
Scaling Down—Living Large in a Smaller Place, Judi Culbertson
The House to Ourselves—Reinventing Home once the kids are grown, Lawser
The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern, Lillian Braun
Brewing Up a Storm, Emma Lathan
•
MOMENT MINISTRIES
April 20, 2005
home address:  25921 SW Airport Ave.
Corvallis, OR 97333   541-753-3942
email at a-morgan@peak.org
 
 
WHAT A PULPIT COMMITTEE!
  
     The largest church in the world is looking for a new preacher. He will officially be the Bishop of Rome. To most Catholics and the rest of the world, he’ll be called “pope.”
     As I write, 115 red-robed cardinals of the church marched in a procession into the Sistine Chapel. They will be locked in until they elect a new pope.
     I’ve only been summoned to a pulpit three times in my career. I’ve gone in to meet with the pulpit committees. None wore red robes, although some seemed to think like cardinals.
     Pulpit committees operate in mysterious ways. For some reason they are not allowed to discuss their progress. They make vows of silence of some sort, but as far as I know are not under threat of excommunication for letting out secrets. They seem to spend a long time coming to decisions. The cardinals are expected to produce a result in a few days. Most pulpit committees take more than a few months.
     Both the cardinals and pulpit committees take their work seriously and religiously. There are prayers appealing to God to help them make the decision. After the prayers the politics begin and they end up compromising up a choice. Maybe that’s the way God works.
     You remember the story in Acts where the disciples chose a replacement for Judas by casting lots. Whatever works to get God’s sign.
     After the decision, the “call.” Even the pope-to-be has to agree to the “call.” I always felt uncomfortable with the idea that God “called me” to a certain church. In each case I left a church to which I had at one time been “called.” Some clergy seem to be “called” quite often. Strangely, most “calls” are to a more lucrative position.
     However it happens, and with whatever participation there may or may not be from the Divine throne on high, someone will be elected. About all we know is that it won’t be a woman. Hopefully it will be an advocate for peace, justice, humanitarian action, inclusion of all races, nations, religions, sexual preferences, and more open position toward women’s reproductive issues and place in church ministry. That’s all I ask.
     May the red-robed pulpit committee do an inspired job, and let the white smoke rise and the bells of St. Peter’s toll the tidings

(back page)
 
COURAGE AND GRACE
 
         A certain amount of my e-mail correspondence is not exactly happy. A lot of people out there are dealing with some heavy stuff. Health issues. Relational issues. Emotional issues.
         As I mentioned in the last blue sheet, more than 40 are in the 80-plus-age range. Surprisingly few in that category speak of problems. Heavy stuff happens at all ages. Some of my messages go out to very young people who deal with hard things.
         From time to time there come reports that I don’t know how to answer. What do you do when you come to a “Dead End” sign and there’s no turn-around?
         I get prayer requests. People sometimes think I may be able to stir up a miracle. I will pray, and do, even when I don’t believe in its power to do what people hope for. I’m far beyond the idea that there’s the kind of God that answers those who tug the right heartstrings. The act of praying puts caring into focus. Caring matters, but don’t expect it to cause a change in the unknowable purposes of the Management.
         Some life situations will not change. I think of a number of you now reading this who have irreversible conditions in your bodies. Some of these cause slow deterioration. There is inconvenience and suffering, not to mention innumerable visits to doctors and pharmacies. One man told me, when I asked how he was doing, that he spent most of his time “trying to stay alive.”
         Well, don’t we all? But for some it’s more difficult.
         As my mind flicks through the stories of some of you, I hurt quite a bit. I am amazed at the way so many are able to live a positive life in negative situations. One young friend of years past, diagnosed with an inoperable cancer, said, “We should live our lives with a smile, don’t you think?” And he did, to the very end.
         I think the Pope, in dealing with his personal cross of Parkinson’s, is only one example of the way one can live with an infirmity. The life force was triumphant in spite of.
         As I look through notes I have sent at “dead end” times, when people were despairing, almost all of them ended with may prayer-wish of courage and grace.
         If there are any characteristics I have seen more often than others in times of trouble, courage and grace are most common. I don’t think people who have never faced a life-threatening condition, realize what inner resources there are within the human person. I doubt that people could believe the courage that some people must muster to rise up and face life each day.
         And I suspect that most would not blame people in such circumstances for complaining and being bitter. We all have a natural tendency toward self-pity, but perspective and reality soon teach us that a negative response to a negative situation is not positive. The amazing reality I have seen is that there is a spirit I call grace that puts a smile on pain. I have seen people in hospital beds, in extreme conditions, show great kindness and appreciation to nurses and caregivers.
         There’s a line from a song in the musical, “Jesus Christ Superstar,” in which Jesus has the song, “I Only Want to Say.” The words I remember are, “Alright, I’ll die! Just watch me die! See how I die!” We don’t know how much of the death time of Jesus is historical fact, but the Gospel writers wrote their belief that Jesus died with courage and grace, giving attention to his mother, blessing those dying on neighboring crosses, and forgiving those who crucified him.
         You don’t have to be divine to have such courage and grace. I’ve seen it in too many lives. It’s one of the gifts we’ve been given in life. It waits its time to be claimed.
         I don’t know why I’m writing this page. I’d like to dedicate it to those of you who are doing your lives under some hard situations. I hear from a friend from time to time, whose life situation doesn’t allow her to travel. The fact that we always seem to be going someplace must remind some that they aren’t in that situation. In spite of her situation she has the grace to end many of her letters with the admonition, “Go in the world for me.”
         I try to go in the world while I can, not unmindful of those who cannot. I wish courage and grace, and pray the same for myself.
                                — Art Morgan, April 20, 2005