several weeks in November with warm for here days and light streaming in through the windows in the morning. Even as winter is on its way there is a reprieve, a pardon, in it all, a sense that inevitability is delayed in the depth of the season’s cold hand being stayed.

I wish I had a window in my office but I take every opportunity to walk between the buildings on my campus and get a taste of these days. Seconds are stored up for withdrawal later when the snow flies and cold winds keep us all indoors like plants in a terrarium. Soon these days, a disaster if they happened south of here, will seem balmy. In other places crops would die and people would shiver in the dark but here in Minnesota 40 degrees and sun is relief.

People always say that life is best lived day by day but we rarely do it. Mostly we plan and scheme and live always for the next day or some aspiration yet to be revealed. Time slips by and we grow too soon old and too late wise. But a sunny day in November is a treasure in and of itself, a reminder to slow down and enjoy the gift. Pity the poor person driving home through the hordes oblivious to the sun on their face.

fans at a recent football game.

I did this once when I was a little kid (I didn’t know what it meant just that it was something bad you did to people who made you mad) and I got my mouth washed out with soap.

Guess it’s inflation.

A man, down on his luck, went into a church which catered to the “uppity”. Spotting the man’s dirty clothes a deacon, worried about the churches image, went to the man and asked him if he needed help. The man said, “I was praying and the Lord told me to come to this church.”

The deacon suggested that the man go pray some more and possibly he might get a different answer. The next Sunday the man returned. The deacon asked, “Did you get a different answer?”

The man replied, “Yes I did. I told the Lord that they don’t want me in that church and the Lord said, ‘Don’t worry about it son; I’ve been trying to get into that church for years and haven’t made it yet.”

last night and so I took the time to do a little fix up work on the blog.The search for a header reminded me that I do like church buildings wherever I find them. At times, even to this day, I’ll be driving though a town and take a detour when I see a steeple, trying to guess who the church belongs to before I arrive.

There’s an aesthetic part about it. I just think churches are interesting. I like the sight of them, the smell of them (Orthodox churches smell best), and the sense by their presence that everything is stable in the world, even when its not and may not even be within the church. Even the word down ones are beautiful in their own way and sometimes a simple one out in the country carries as much magnificence as the edifice on the big city corner.

Now when I see them I think, too, about just having a place to be. I’ve been on the road for going on five years now and little St. Elias has made big strides. I’m so proud of them. We put in a sink this past week in the sanctuary, not a big thing for most parishes but it was the first time that we’ve ever, since the early 1900’s mind you, had hot and cold running water on the main floor. We have some money in the bank now and we’ve made major improvements throughout. These are good people and everyday it seems like one more step and we’ll cross over to the next level.

Yet time and the economy have taken their toll. It’s hard for a small parish to fund a full time priest and in these times its harder still. Jobs, especially for khourias, are essential and in smaller towns the right one is harder to find. It’s like a hand is holding things back even as God’s hand is in all of it.

And so a steeple here and there reminds me of a settled life yet to come, a town, a parish, the simple blessing of stability and the sense of belonging. Oh well, not yet.

you should read. Wise words in difficult times.

the online source for instructions on how to tie your tie, even a bowtie.

Andrew W., if you read this post please give me a call.

Fr John

put up Christmas lights yesterday. The weather was way better than average. I had the day off and a list of chores and added that little project on.

Oh, by the way, the switch is on “off”. Just cause I didn’t want to put them up in a snowstorm doesn’t mean they’ll be on any time soon. In Minnesota when you have a good day you think ahead.

When I was a child the Packers were our heroes. It was the sixties, we were kids crazy about football, and the Packers were on top of the world. I had a Bart Starr jersey I wore until my body didn’t fit anymore. It was a different world.

We’re all older now and it seems like there’s so much more at stake. We scream, yell, get angry. There’s too much money on the line. We forget it’s a game and life is far more than a game. Enjoy the moment but don’t let the moment overwhelm the rest of you.

I’m glad its not the best of seasons for the Packers. No, I don’t like the losing, the fact that people might get hurt, or that kind of sinking feeling when other people gloat over your team’s hard times. But I hope people learn the lessons of which rough seasons are a reminder. Don’t let your happiness ride on the shoulders of others. Enjoy the game, the moments, but don’t let a group of men with jerseys be your only great cause, life is more than what happens on Sunday afternoon.

All this comes to mind because yesterday I bought a Bart Starr jersey, a reminder of better times, of different people who played the game and different children who listened on the radio. It’s a bigger size, of course, and I’ve learned more then I knew then, for better or worse. Yet there’s still a kid inside and I want that to stay the same, forever.