Sunday, July 30, 2006

Early Sunday Morning Reminders

Preach the Word in and out of season.

Bend down (from the pulpit) and love them.

Rules without relationship create rebellion.

Love them.

Love them.

Love them.

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Kitten Birthday Countdown!


Today, tomorrow and Monday!!! Then, count to August 28th!
It's OUR BIRTHDAY!!!!

Whistle and I will get new big cat Cat Food. No more kitten chow for us! We will be ONE! Big cats! Really, really Big Cats!

Whistle said it's rude to remind you of our birthday. He said it sounds like a "gift grab" to him. So what?

Our party will be great! You can come to it!

No stupid party hats, ok?

Sincerely yours,

Fish the Kitten

Friday, July 28, 2006

Playing the RGBP FRIDAY FIVE HOT HOT HOT

Reverendmother asks the Friday Five Questions.

I know this subject!!!

Many areas of the United States are having a heat wave. Global warming, anyone? Look on the bright side of melting glaciers and enviro-destruction by taking a crack at the Friday Five:

1. What's the high temperature today where you are?
High 90's

2. Favorite way(s) to beat the heat.
Stay inside in the air conditioning drinking cool drinks. Take a cool shower. Station myself under the ceiling fans.

3. "It's not the heat, it's the humidity." Evaluate this statement.
Dry heat just messes up your skin. Humidity makes you feel sticky. I guess I prefer the humidity but only because I'm familiar with it.

4. Discuss one or more of the following: sauna, hot tub, sweat lodge, warm-stone massage.
I have NO interest in these except on the coldest day of winter.

5. Hottest you've ever been in your life
At the Neshoba County Fair where we listened to stump speeches and visited. I thought I was going to faint and die. Dusty, hot, buggy, and full of happy Mississippians visiting.

Non-temperature related bonus: In your opinion... who's hot?
All the volunteers to come to the Hurricane Zone to help.

As always, let us know if you play--and those of you who are linking directly to your posts? You're hot. And cool.

RGBP Meet-Up!


While you all were eating dinner, watching re-runs of "Andy Griffith" and loading the dishwasher, I was eating dinner with Purechristianthink near Pearlington. We left the dreadful mess of an isolated, unincorporated village to drive to Nearby Town. We found a place to eat and sat down to visit.

PCT is kind to come to the Zone, find the most pitiful place (East Biloxi would be next or BSL) and help do whatever needs to be done to restore housing and hope. And, she brought friends.

When I say "isolated", I mean it. On my first drive there yesterday, I couldn't believe how "back in the woods" the village sits. I recall hearing that Pearlington received help after Katrina only after emergency workers realized the place existed. PCT reminded me that churches were the first to arrive to help. One of our denominational sites is there with pods for housing workers, showers and a kitchen.

Having dinner with a RGBP thrilled me. We talked and talked, ate and ate. I'm proud to know her and hear about her ministry far, far away.

She suggested that the denominational site needs a cat to patrol for mice. She saw dogs running in the village but no cats. If it is safe for cats there, I'll find out about placing one.

Here's the ad for the Cat Times:

Wanted: Stalwart, mature cat to handle mousework at a disaster site in the woods. Ideal candidate would speak Dog and have diplomatic skills to work in isolated area with a high population of dogs. Hunting skills a must. Must enjoy attention from people such as ear scratching, lap-sitting and ability to purr when handed cat treats. Dry and hot napping areas abound. Wifi not available at this time. Send application to....

Yours,

St. Casserole

Monday, July 24, 2006

St. C? Where You At?*


I am busy with many things. I am fine and happy. I'll be back to bloggage when I think of something to say.

Your,
St. Casserole

*Add this phrase to pet peeve list.

Friday, July 21, 2006

Happy Anniversary to Us! RevGalBlogPals!!!!!!



1) What is your first memory of the RevGalBlogPals?
Mr. C thought up the first version of our name. Songbird perfected it.

2) Have you met any of the other ring members in real life?
I've loved meeting Songbird, Cheesehead, Reverendmother, Stacey, Rev. Mommy, Chaplain Lydia, Not-Shy, Rev. Abi, and who did I leave out? I am meeting Purechristianthink next week! What a gift you all are! Every one of you!

3) Of those you haven't met, name a few you would love to know in person. I want to meet Quotidian Grace because our lives sound rather similar and I want to meet ALL OF YOU! Every one of you!

4) What has Ring Membership added to your life? I belong to a group of interesting people who understand ministry and more! Every one of you!

5) Describe a hope for the future of the WebRing. I'd like for us to have a conference/retreat together. I'd like us to speak at conferences across the ocean, too. Could we have a group bracelet? Could we sponsor a conference for seminarians? Could we go on a cruise? Can we make Cajun Shrimp our RevGalBlogPals official toenail polish? (see original post for this info over at www.revgalblogpals.blogspot.com)

Thank you for making my world larger, getting me through the trauma of the Storm, laughing at my jokes and being so very dear with your support.

Love you,
St. Casserole

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Our Birthday Portraits Gone Wrong



Here we are with our best friends, LD and her best friend. We are not happy. We are almost one year old and our mom put hats on us and said, "Hold the kittens!" Not words we want to hear when tiny straw hats are involved. Maybe not ever.

We look really great even if we are wearing lil straw hats. Fish has a bandana with cats printed on it. He took it off as soon as we were free.

Have you bought our birthday presents yet? The party is on August 28. Location and attire TBA.

Yours,
Whistle the Kitten

Monday, July 17, 2006

Rewriting the History of August 29th : A Prayer

Thank you for letting me understand
homelessness, living without power,
without television , without cool air in the heat.

Thank you for letting me understand
hunger, the pleasure of dry clean clothes and
the relief of place to sleep.

Thank you for letting me understand
the deep and overwhelming sadness
when forces, beyond our personal control,
take the loved, the familiar, the usual.

Thank you for my needfulness and
Thank you for my newfound empathy
for those were homeless before the storm
and homeless now, for those hungry
anywhere, for those in need everywhere.

Thank you for the opportunity you provided
to help my neighbor, to be my brother’s keeper,
to serve food, to patch roofs, to clear yards,
and to start mending that which was broken.

Thank you for the chance to change ourselves,
from a reprieve from the normal commercial day,
for teaching us to make do, to get by, to improvise,
for drowning our conceit, complacency, callousness
for silencing the noise , for stopping the clock,
and for the chance to act our best when the worst occurred.

Thank you for the people who reached in
pulled out the living, cradled the dead,
comforted the broken and torn apart,
wept for the splintered and uprooted.

Thank you for the people who didn’t wait
who came right away, who opened their homes,
who emptied their shelves, their closets,
who cleaned, fed , healed, held us,
who told us our spirit was amazing,
and who keep on coming.

Thank you for people who measure
their faith by their actions, and measure
their action by its consistency with their faith.

Thank you for all the people we have met,
who are new friends, new loved ones,
new brothers and sisters, new neighbors.

Thank you Katrina. Not for wind,
not for water, but for the appreciation
of the things no storm can shatter,
no water can wash away,
no wind can move.

---Written by R. and Mr. C

Tuesday, July 11, 2006


Hot enough for you?

No. I'm studying Life in Hell for a research grant.
I don't know. How hot does it have to be?
It's Summer! What Do You Expect?
Hot? This is NOTHING compared to when I was a kid!
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Some Things I Believe....

I believe these things to be true:

a) When a new pastor comes to a church where the former pastor has been gone for a good while will find that she/he will handle a high number of funerals in the beginning months. It seems that people save their deaths until the pastor arrives. This is similar to how people wait until after a major holiday (Christmas, Easter) to die. Many a pastor gets to know her/his congregation through leading funerals. In churches with younger congregants, the pastor seems to be through with her/his "honeymoon" and accepted as the pastor when the first normal (not an accident) death happens.

Not to put pressure on you but the congregation is watching to see if you can be trusted with their deaths.

b) What people want from a religious leader is authenticity. Be you.

c)The practice of ministry is an art. Keep this in mind as you do church administration.

I'm proud of you all. I thank God that you heard God's call and responded.

St. Casserole

Saturday, July 08, 2006

A year ago today, I went to the SMHS and picked out two kittens, Assumpta and Dibley. Rusty, my dear companion in cat fur, died on July 5 and I felt bereft. Cats fill a place in my heart that no other creature can nurture. As a small child I loved cats and this affection hasn't changed.

The cat counselor at the humane society suggested that Dibley, a tiny orange domestic shorthair would be happier with his sister staying with him. A two-for-one cat special on neutering was in effect and fees would be waived if I took both kittens. I was delighted! A beautiful little black and white girl kitten could be mine, too. Assumpta and Dibley came home with me after I asked Mr. C. to go meet the kittens.

A hurricane threathened the Coast right after the little kittens came to our home.

The kittens grew into bigger kittens. They played with each other and took naps with me.

Then, a nasty storm developed in the Gulf, blew through Florida before it strengthened into Katrina. We packed up the kittens into their carriers (along with older cat, Andy) and evacuated to safety.

After the storm, Mr. C. and LS returned to the Coast with Andy. LD and I took the kittens to LLS and LSiL's home. Assumpta and Dibley met Cousin Bea and Uncle Lewis. The kittens loved being with the older cats and after a few days of hissing and territorial battles, they were welcomed into a new home. After I left, the kittens stayed to comfort LD who was then enrolled in school there.

LD returned to us after her first semester but Assumpta and Dibley stayed. Uncle Lewis joined the Church Invisible for cats, Bea became enamoured of Assumpta and Dibley learned to go outside to explore.

This week I wrote a medical release for Assumpta and Dibley so they may continue to have care under LLS's name instead of mine up there. I felt I was signing a relinquisment of parental rights although I know I was not. I stared at the paper over a twenty four hour period unable to put my signature to the paper. The kittens are happy where they are. Their home is with LLS and LSiL, not here and it would be traumatic to move them into our home again. They are loved and enjoyed in their new home.

The damn storm affected so many things on so many levels. I'm talking about cats here and getting worked up. Imagine how it is for families who are displaced, spouses separated by the storm so jobs can be gotten and for all the grandparents who moved away forever after the storm. We are dealing with traumas on all levels. We are dealing with loss, grief, frustration and fear of the future.

You recall that I have two new kittens, Whistle and Fish who make their home with us. I love them. Having said that, no cat replaces another one you've lost as no person replaces one you've lost. Love expands but grief remembers.

Yours,
St. Casserole

Friday, July 07, 2006


Last night I heard the froggies sing,
Their songs of love and prowess.
They sang so loud that I could hear
them inside my how is.

The crickets rubbed their tiny legs
to join the froggie chorus
In praise of God who made us all
I heard them singing for us.

Inside my house the teens made noise
of slamming doors and music
No wonder I woke with not enough sleep
A headache and a facial tic.

St. Casserole

RGBP A Short Friday Five Meme

A Short meme for what was for many a shortened week:tell us about five noteworthy Short things in your life.(Be liberally imaginative.)

Short People : I am the "short people" in my family. The LH's tall gene reigns around here.

Short Hops: My children hope my dancing around the house is cut short. I make them laugh.

Short Stories: Mouse Basketball, Vole Vaulting, Runway Modeling School for Sparrows

Short Lists: Items I'm willing to pay full price for in stores

Short Stops: "Mom!, let me run into Walgreens! I'll just be a minute!!!"

Short Truth: Short people have more fun.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

A Good Day with Good News

Good news! Our plumber came by today to fix a leak! We need him to dig up the water lines in both the front and back yard and check for leaks and replace pipe broken with the hurricane trees fell. He did one small repair but having him here made me happy.

You may wonder why ALL of our storm repairs are not finished this long after Katrina. We waited our "turn" so that others who were in trailers or displaced could get their repairs done. Even now, it is very difficult to find someone to do repairs. I've called our plumber to ask for his help every week except the two I spent out of town (Homie Fest and G.A.). He came today out of compassion rather than being available.

Our roof will get an estimate tomorrow and I assume this carpenter will do the work. One never knows if an estimate even gets your name on the List.

The door man made an appointment with me for 11 am. today but didn't show. Maybe next week. If I had a call from someone wanting 10 French doors replaced, I'd hustle over for the business but since I don't want all my interior doors and windows replaced, my order is small.

The plumber went up $15 dollars on his per hour charge. This happens all over the storm zone.
Materials go up; workers (if you can get them) charge more. The insurance industry plays with the idea of compensating homeowners more but I don't have the name of any homeowner for whom this has happened.

Surprised that the world is a crap zone down here? I suppose you are. I am 80 something miles east of New Orleans. I live just east of where the Big Girl hit.

It's time for Anderson Cooper to come down here again. The local newspaper says your President is considering his "11th" visit but those visits take our police off the local watch, cost the cities and towns money and, well, nothing happens. As we say down here, "it's a waste 'o time".

My new favorite expression here in the Zone is "I've run out of give a damn".

The hospital is putting on programs around the area to help parents with parenting in a disaster zone. The speaker is a big deal from Harvard who we are delighted to have visit us. He knows something about trauma and will bring some of his students. I love how people have come to help us! He'll do several lectures around the area and will speak to trauma issues for all of us. I hope to hear him tomorrow morning.

Yours,
St. Casserole

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

A Provoking Post

Disclaimer: What follows relates to parenting and interfering with someone else's child. You may be offended by this as we are all experts on parenting whether we have children or not.

Last night, at the Preacher's 4th of July/Birthday Party, one of our pastors blasted her two and 1/2 year old for begging for food. When I say "blasted", I mean that she used a tone of voice for a tiny child which made all of us uncomfortable. The volume hit the range often reserved for felony offenses by police officers chasing suspects through a parking lot. I'm not kidding.

The lil child began to cry so one of us picked her up and held her on his lap. The mother continued to blast and give reasons for why she was blasting the child. After listening to this for several minutes, the preacher turned the child away from the mother and faced her in my direction. We were sitting around a dining room table. As the mother ranted, the preacher quietly took pieces of the birthday cake and placed the cake in the child's hand. The mom didn't notice. Disclaimer #2: The child has no known allergies or chronic diseases. Sitting across from the mom and the cake-feeding-preacher, three other preachers watched the cake feeding and began to laugh. The mom didn't notice. The entire slice of cake was fed to the child who was delighted and when finished with the cake was ready to get down and go play with toys on the floor.

I laugh as I remember this from last night.

None of us wanted to set off the yelling preacher by suggesting that a loud tone of voice is best reserved for an emergency situation such as keeping a child from going into the street or away from a dangerous object.

We all gathered our stuff and headed out after the child ate the cake. LH and I couldn't take anymore of the fussing.

Having told this story, I realize that parents can get so upset they don't act in a reasonable manner. I suppose last night fell into this situation and Lord Knows I don't know what happened at the preacher's home several hours earlier which might have been broiling inside her.

It's still funny to me.

St. Casserole

Tuesday, July 04, 2006



I have a new desktop computer for my study. Here I am, wearing my Sunday Suit and my short old guy wig, standing in front of the new 'puter. Note the steering wheel so I can pretend I'm driving a truck if I become bored with just watching the lil guages.

Don't picture me in this get-up too often because I try not to dress up when I walk from our kitchen to the study or from our bedroom to the study. It's easier to wear jeans and silly t-shirts than to put on a tie and wear a short white old guy wig.

Happy to have a new computer,

St. C



This is plumbago. This plant survived Hurricane Katrina by hunkering down in our courtyard. Despite Cat 4-5 winds and 35 days of drought, Miss Plumbago grew into a very large bush and has rejoiced since late March with beautiful blue blooms.

Happy Fourth of July to all of you. We're going to Rachel's for burgers and such with the Preacher Group. Should be loud and fun since everyone's children will be there and these preachers are ALL extroverts.

St.Casserole Herself

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Good morning! I am preaching on the Mark lectionary passage later this morning. I'm compelled to talk about God's goodness in healing suffering. Compelled as in driven forward to remind those who've heard and teach those who don't know this passage of God's loving care of those who suffer. I expect a small congregation because of holiday travel but I anticipate visitors coming with family members. I will turn on the floor fan in the pulpit area to full blast to cope with the heat. I may wear bare-toed sandals but I wear vestments year-round. May God bless you with clear diction, clear ideas and a jolt of passion as you preach this morning, dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ. Love, St. Casserole