The Pastor's Blog @ Saint Matthew's
What is more important?
A smudge of ash on your forehead or living a life to the glory of God?
Is it more important to show an outward sign of sinfulness or is giving of yourself to help others a better outward example of the forgiveness won by Christ at the cross?
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After church today, I headed off to Shop-Rite to pick up a loaf of bread. Earlier, I decided that my lunch was to consist of an Amy’s Kitchen Sonoma veggie burger on bread with spinach and ketchup. Upon arriving home from church, I pulled out the veggie burger, the organic ketchup, and the baby spinach from the fridge. Of course, I lacked the bread.
So there I was earlier this afternoon, walking through Shop-Rite in New Milford, carrying a loaf of store-baked whole wheat organic Italian bread that was on sale for a buck. And then I ran into a mother and her son arguing over cereal. The young man I guess was about 10 years old, wanted a box of Honey Nut Cheerios. His mother wanted the regular Cheerios. They were going back and forth. The boy said his mother never gave him anything. The mom said she gave him too much. He complained that plain Cheerios taste terrible. She said he was going to eat what she buys. And the argument went on as I walked away.
Standing on line (or as friends tell me, “in line”), a young woman came with her items and stood behind me talking on her phone. The woman said to the person on the other end that she was picking up pork chops for dinner. After a few seconds, her snarky response to whatever the person on the other end of the phone told her was, “I don’t care if you don’t eat pork chops. Go home to your mommy for dinner then.”
Finally after checking out, I was walking back to my car when I ran into a man and woman arguing over why the guy didn’t wear his coat. She told him that if he got sick, she didn’t care if he was running a fever tomorrow, he was going to work. He told her not to get overly dramatic. She told him to “mark” her words, to which she received a pleasant response of, “will you just shut up.”
Even on a Sunday, people forget good manners and behavior.
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A number of congregants here at Saint Matthew’s have asked me numerous times what I eat since I follow a plant-powered, vegan-like lifestyle. Since I have been asked to keep my Google+ and Twitter accounts very active today, I thought that since I posted the following on my Google+ account, why not post it here as well?
First of all, since I am a plant-powered, vegan-like person, I do not consume anything that comes from an animal. Second, I stay away from adding oil to any of my meals. Third, I like eating this way. I have more energy. My head is clearer (on most days). And it has helped me realize that I do not need a pile of vitamins to get me through my day.
On the menu this morning:
- Tofu scramble made in the oven with spinach, onion, an orange pepper, zucchini; a quarter cup of nutritional yeast; 1/4 teaspoon of tumeric; spicy brown mustard, about two teaspoons or so (I didn’t measure it today; just a big blob of mustard); a teaspoon each of onion powder, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning; black pepper to taste (about three turns of the pepper mill for me); and crumbled extra-firm tofu.
- One serving of that Lightlife Gimme Lean vegan sausage, cooked in a pan with a spritz of non-stick spray.
- Unsweetened soy milk.
- My cup of coffee from earlier since I didn’t drink it.
- A banana and a half-cup of blueberries. Later on, as it sits in the background of the picture, for a midmorning snack, an orange.
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President Harrison said it so clearly.
Reshared post from +CNSnews.com
The Obama administration’s health insurance mandate compelling employers to provide and pay for services they and their employees find morally unacceptable is a threat to Americans’ religious liberty, faith leaders told lawmakers Thursday.
Embedded Link
Lutheran Pastor: ‘Get the Federal Government Out of Our Consciences’ | CNSNews.com
(CNSNews.com) – The Obama administration’s health insurance mandate compelling employers to provide and pay for services they and their employees find morally unacceptable is a threat to Americans…
Google+: View post on Google+
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Below is a terrific article written by a wonderful writer, mother, and Lutheran, Mollie Hemingway, after a commentator on CNN.com wrote the following about her stance on the recent Planned Parenthood-Susan G. Komen for the Cure flap:
“Karma will hit and Mollie will be struck with breast cancer tonight and have to have a double masectomy [sic]. That’s what she gets for being against the poor being able to have mammograms done. May her Chemo be very painful.”
In her article, Mollie is right on the button about the corrosive nature of political rhetoric and discussion. When did vileness and viciousness such as wishing someone to get sick, or in the case of conservative commentator Cal Thomas, who said that MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow was a good argument for birth control, become so commonplace?
(Thank you to Vicar Eric Ekong for Google+ tip)
Embedded Link
‘I Hope You Get Cancer’ (and Other Thoughtful Critiques) – Ricochet.com
I’ve been writing quite a bit about Planned Parenthood and the media campaign on its behalf that we’ve been subjected to in the last week or so. Over at CNN, commenter Teddy N. kindly …
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