Exposure to the Sun/Son

Posted on January 27, 2013 by the Rev'd Dr SG Rindahl

It is Sunday afternoon and not too long after the family and I pulled into our parking space having returned from chapel.  It is cold here (Ft Drum, NY) and according to the weather report it was well below freezing at about 14/15 Fahrenheit or -10 Celsius (this is actually warm compared to the -16 F / -27 C temps of last week).  Regardless, as I pulled in behind my pick-up truck I witnessed something strange.  Continue reading →

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A Cowboy’s Religion

Posted on January 21, 2013 by the Rev'd Dr SG Rindahl

http://ravennatx.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/cowboy_cross.gif  Most important to a cowboy’s religion was that he “got” it, and “had” it.

Probably few, if any, versions of a cowpoke’s religion ever got into any books of theology.

But one old Plains cowboy’s description of what religion is, did get into print. Continue reading →

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Why Do We Settle for What We Want?

Posted on January 20, 2013 by the Rev'd Dr SG Rindahl

It is the 20th of January and (for those who acknowledge the Church Calendar) the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany.  Today the Gospel reading was the telling of the story of the wedding in Cana of Galilee.  A young couple gets married but runs out of wine at the party.  Jesus gets pressed into service by his mother, Mary, and viola somewhere between 120 and 180 gallons of wine are miraculously provided.  Continue reading →

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What is Different About Ministry in the Military

Posted on January 5, 2013 by the Rev'd Dr SG Rindahl

“Father, will you pray for me?” she asked.  “Of course, what is troubling you?” I replied.  “I need to improve my rifle marksmanship,” is her answer. Continue reading →

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A Soldier’s Christmas

Posted on December 25, 2012 by the Rev'd Dr SG Rindahl

This morning my family will spend Christmas as we have done for the past few years – on Ft Jackson.  Each year there are many Soldiers who are in the middle of Basic Combat Training when Christmas comes around and they cannot go home for the holiday.  Some cannot go home because there is no home to go to.  Others feel that the life they have in the barracks is superior to anything they may have at home – they left home for a reason.  Continue reading →

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Christmas by John Betjeman

Posted on December 25, 2012 by the Rev'd Dr SG Rindahl

The bells of waiting Advent ring,
The Tortoise stove is lit again
And lamp-oil light across the night
Has caught the streaks of winter rain
In many a stained-glass window sheen
From Crimson Lake to Hookers Green.
Continue reading →

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Advent by John Betjeman

Posted on December 24, 2012 by the Rev'd Dr SG Rindahl

Advent
John Betjeman

The Advent wind begins to stir
With sea-like sounds in our Scotch fir,
It’s dark at breakfast, dark at tea,
And in between we only see Continue reading →

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A Few Days of Advent Left

Posted on December 22, 2012 by the Rev'd Dr SG Rindahl

This morning my younger daughter greeted my wife and me by saying – It is Christmas Eve Eve Eve!

There are three days until Christmas but who is counting?  Well, my daughter for one.  I remember the days of counting down the days.  We had paper-link chains, popcorn on string, and Advent calendars.  Continue reading →

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The Mayan Calendar and the End of the Age

Posted on December 20, 2012 by the Rev'd Dr SG Rindahl

It is about to be the 21st of December, 2012.  Some claim that the Mayans predicted that this will be the end of the world.  This is an opinion derived from the fact that the Mayan calendar ends on the 21st.  It is a strange thought really – the end of a calendar means that it is the end of the world.  According to that logic modern cultures around the world predict the end of creation every year on the 31st of December.  We all see the fault in that idea.  In old Books of Common Prayer (BCP’s) there are charts used to determine when a holiday will fall and they each project out for a set number of years but nobody ever said the church was predicting the end of the age. Continue reading →

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A Reflection on the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

Posted on December 17, 2012 by the Rev'd Dr SG Rindahl

Today the people of our nation ask themselves why did the shooting in Connecticut happen? Why were innocent children murdered? What can be done to stop it from happening again? Continue reading →

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