The Bible talks alot about justice and how we need to live in a just world.  I am sure that there are doctoral dissertations written about the subject but how can I live this out?  How can I show compassion, grace and love while at the same time live in a just society?

This came to my mind recently after our car was broken into.  They stole my sirius satellite radio, my bluetooth headset and my wallet.  Nothing too precious that I can’t replace (but a big inconvenience on my wallet), but I was rightfully upset.  I called the Sheriffs office to report it and they came and wrote up a nice report for my insurance company and then he had me sign a paper.  I was not sure that I was prepared for this — but it was a paper saying that when caught I would like the individuals arrested for what they did.  I took a step back…..was I really prepared for this?  Did I want someone to be put into jail on my account?  Especially if I recieved the items back…..

I signed the paper because I would like to seek justice and by all accounts from what I was told it was a group of kids doing this and they would most likely recieve a slap on the wrist for their crimes.  But it started to make me think.
The ELCA is coming out with a new social statement in 2013 on criminal justice.  I have applied to be on this task force because it is something that I am interested in.  I am not sure how many pastors they are taking and I am sure there are many more qualified people who can serve but throughout my ministry this will be an important topic for me.  For the most part as Lutherans I think we are scared to talk about these issues, we live in a world where we preach Law and Gospel — so how do we handle the gospel when we are dealing with someone who broke the law and does not show remorse?  Of course theologically we will still love them and we will reassure them of God’s love — but is there something else?  Is there something missing from the conversation that we need to include?

There is something facisinating to me about the criminial mind - for me it is a mix of theological, moral, ethical, and psychological issues mixed perhaps with some issues around the nature of evil in the human spirit.  Perhaps I can find time in the months and years to come to explore this alittle deeper and I can find opportunities as a church (both St. Marks and the church at large) to help educate and stimulate interest in others.

I have been a pastor for a week.  It feels good.  I came into the church with 65-70 kids running around during Vacation Bible School.  It was kind of crazy — but a good kind  of crazy.  I prepared for my first service as well as my first time presiding over communion.  It was a good feeling — it really helped me solidify my call as a pastor.  It helped me gain more confidence in this vocation that I have been called too.

There is so much going on right now it is hard to sit down and spill everything out.  It feels like my life is a fast moving train and there is no way to stop it.  However, with that being said things are coming together. 

We moved in our new place and really like it.  We have a garage full of boxed somewhat organized into different piles but there is still unpacking that needs to be done. 

I am getting more and more familiar with the church and how the church runs.  I am finding out their style of ministry while I am finding out my own.  I think we will work well together.

I am trying to catch up on things like emails, blog posts, well wishes and I would like to establish a routein.  I guess things will eventually come……..

I have to get my office in order.  I have a number of boxes of books that need to come in and get organized and my office furnature needs to be arranged to how I want it- I just need to figure out how I want it

Ministry is fun - ministry can be overwhelming.  I hope that the fun comes sooner than later

PS - since I have lots of new stuff going on I decided to change the look and title of my blog.  I hope to stick with this one for awhile.  There are other adjustments that need to be made but I decided to call it “Life Together” - I chose this since I am starting a new life- That involves you, my new church home and community.  I also enjoy the book by the same title by Bonhoeffer.  You should check it out! (another blog topic for the future)

60 Days ago:

• I was still a seminary student
• I was ready to start finals
• I was about to leave my job as a part time youth director
• I was actually feeling quite healthy - a little stressed but healthy
• I lived in PA
• I just started the call process
• I was in my 20’s
• Summer did not start

The last 60 days

• I graduated seminary
• I started and ended a job as a line cook
• I turned 30
• I moved to Vermont
• I fell down a flight of stairs - hurt my head and I have had back problems since
• I finished the call process and have been called to St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Baldwinsville, NY
• I signed a one year lease for a townhouse in Baldwinsville, NY
• I have had a stomach bug for the last week
• Summer started

The Next 60 days

• I will move with my family to New York
• I will drive to PA again to get our stuff
• I will start my new job/ministry
• I will hopefully be somewhat settled in our new house
• Summer will end
• I will get on a regular blogging schedule

This was the best way for me to sum up my life the last 60 days.  I have given highlights here and there.  The one place I did not announce my new position as pastor of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Baldwinsville, NY has been on here. I am sorry to all my blogging friends.

Like I said above health wise I have not been doing well.  I have had a stomach thing the last week- my whole family has had it — PLUS my back has been out.  I have had trouble walking and just standing.  Today was the first day I have been able to walk normally but that has been after two straight days of laying on the floor.

I am excited to start my life as a pastor in my new ministry.  I start July 15th!! I will not have internet for the next few days as we move our stuff to our new place.

It is nice to be back in Vermont for awhile.  There is a calmness about Vermont that is unlike anywhere I have been since I left.  People here still have the “east coast attitude” that you need to be going 100 miles an hour but there is a laidbackness to life at the same time.  I don’t know if that makes sense but you can feel it when you are here.

It is fun to see my kids interact with their grandparents and Uncles and cousins.  I feel better knowing that they are getting to know their extended family.  Since my potential call is around 4 hours away I hope we can make it back to Vermont more often- especially during the summer time.  Who wants to drive anywhere in upstate NY or Vermont in the winter?!?!!

I am hoping we have secured a place to live.  We have been working at that since mid May.  I have talked with everyone about house buying vs house rental.  We have checked out many housing units and have decided to rent for awhile.  We want to get to know the area and to save up and have a solid foundation going into owning a home.  This process of first call is drawn out but when you are moving you are moving fast so we want to make sure we do the right thing.

I have not had too much experience in rent to own- but that was an option for one place.  Actually the rental we are hopefully moving into has the exact same layout at the rent to own, but we did not like the terms and so we decided not to move forward with that.

I am still working at the restaurant here in Vermont.  I still do not like going there……. but I did get a new pair of shoes.  They actually really help with my sore feet and aching back.  Physically I am doing better but I still have pain.  I told them that I have a job interview on the 29th and I will let them know if I will continue to work.   Part of me just wants to quit and to concentrate on moving and getting settled once I have my call in hand.  Another part of me thinks I should continue to work.  I guess it depends on when my start date is.  This week they have me working close to 40 hours.  It will be interesting what they put me down for next week since they know I will most likely be leaving soon.

I must say this transition time between graduation and first call has not been easy.  I was told that it would not be — we have done our best to make it as smooth as possible and for the most part it is smooth.  I don’t know what i would of done without my parents help.  It would of been a lot harder without them.  I guess that’s what family is for…..thank God for Vermont.

I met with the church council which is pretty much step two in the call process (the first is a meeting with the call committee).  I am moving to the last step which is going before the congregation.  I will do that at the end of the month.  Thank you all for the prayers during this time of uncertainty.  It has really helped.

I am finally “home” for the time being.  I have traveled almost three thousand miles since memorial day weekend. That is almost 130 miles a day.  But most of those miles were done in large stints.  I am glad to be in one place for the next two weeks.  Then finally we will be settled for a long time.

It is time for some sleep — now that I am settled here in Vermont I hope to catch up on some blogging.  So come back some more.

I don’t have much time to blog right now.  I have to leave for my next shift at the resturant in about an hour.  I have not had internet all week.  My wife and I were in Philadelphia packing up our apartment and putting 98% of our wordly possesions in a 10×15 storage locker.  My hope is that it will stay there until we move to our new residence wherever God leads us.  It was a long and exhausting week but it is done.  I am sad to say I am not sure when we will be headed to PA again.

My body hurts and I am stressed but things are actually going quite smoothly.  We are packed up and moved out, my next interview in this first call process is next Wednesday.  I am not sure what I am going to do next week for internet because I will be at the Upstate NY Synod Assembly.  It should be a good time though.

I have a job at the Sports Legends bar and grill as a line cook.  I really don’t like it but it is money in this time of unemployment.  I feel bad being there only a short time.

Well I have to go and figure out what I am going to do about my sore back so I can make it through my 6 hour shift……

So here I am - after driving seven hours to Vermont on Thursday to drop some stuff off at my parents house (including on of our cars) we made the three hour trip east to Camp Calumet.  For those who are not familiar with Calumet check out my page about it.

As I was thinking about it this is the longest that I have spend at Camp in many years.  I think that is kind of sad in a way because it is one of my favorite places to be.  But living in Pennsylvania as a graduate student I have not gotten many opportunities in the last four or five years.

Even though I am in a different role while I am here I am very happy.  I am the Chaplain for the Memorial Day weekend retreat.  Basically I lead morning and evening devotions all weekend, I lead two Bible Studies and worship on Sunday Morning.  As a chaplain it is good for me to get to know the people who are here and just be pastoral.  As my first post graduation church related event I am very happy.  Things have gone really well and I love being here with my family and to give them an opportunity to rest, relax and enjoy camp.

Some of the things that we have done while we have been here:  Pontoon boat ride (The boy and I went on this and he Loved it, it was his first boat ride ever!) Climbed Jackman’s Ridge (short hike but great view and a must do at Calumet), crafts, naps, Talent show (the boy and I did a duet with me on the guitar and he on the drums), Campfires, silly games and just a general sense of being outdoors and enjoying nature.  The only negative about being outdoors this much is that in New Hampshire it is black fly season.  The general rule is between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day the black flies are bad.  But for the most part bug spray keeps them away.

It will be sad when we leave.  We will be around here until Tuesday.  I want to head up to the “big city” of North Conway with the family and just go window shopping and get some Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream.

I am not sure if I will get on here before it happens– on Wednesday May 28th I will have my first interview with a potential call in Upstate New York Synod.  I am very excited/nervous about it.  Please pray for discernment for the church and myself as we talk about each other and learn more if this will be a good call for both sides.

David has tagged me for a meme. I will try and finish this before I go to the YMCA for some swimming.

The rules for this meme are fairly standard. Simply post the rules at the beginning of your post, answer the questions,, and tag five others to play along. Leave a comment on their blog to let them know that they need to visit yours for the rules, and of course, link back to the one who tagged you, in this case….me!

Here we go

Ten years ago:
Wow I have not thought about 10 years ago in a long time. 10 years ago I was finishing my second year at Luther College. I was preparing go to to Camp Calumet for the summer. hmmm… Good times

Five things on today’s “to do” list:

Work on my Bible Studies for this weekend

Work on my sermon for Sunday and Wednesday

Pack some

Teach swimming lessongs

Cook dinner for the family

Things I’d do if I was a billionaire:

Pay off all my debt

Help my family and friends out

Contribute money to Calumet, LTSP, and Luther College

Contribute to the Leadership Fund of the ELCA

Buy an iPhone

Buy a nice house in New England with a large yard and spend my days playing my guitar and writing songs

Three bad habits:

Drive too fast

I tend to have a hard time saying no

disorganized

Five places I’ve lived:

Philadelphia, PA

Reading, PA

Freedom, NH

Decorah, IA

Rutland, VT

Five jobs I’ve had:
Paperboy (1^st job ever)

Line Cook (Red Lobster in high school, Country Kitchen in college)

Camp Counselor and Retreat Specalist (Camp Calumet)

Youth Director

Dunkin’ Donuts driver

Five people I’m tagging:
Dr. John

Johnna

Ian

Virginia

Christoph

]]> http://papajoemc.wordpress.com/2008/05/20/oddly-familiar-blog/feed/ papajoemc http://papajoemc.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/writing/ http://papajoemc.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/writing/#comments Fri, 16 May 2008 19:45:20 +0000 papajoemc http://papajoemc.wordpress.com/?p=202

I know that I am not the best writer in the world. I feel like I have a lot of great ideas but I have never mastered the English language.  Most of you might know this all too well when you read my blog.  I am a much better preacher than I am a novelist.  Although I do have an idea for a novel…but that’s another blog.

One of my passions before seminary was to write music.  I wanted to get a mac because I heard about garageband which is a program that lets people like me record their music.  I could plug in my guitar and mic in  my computer and record for hours.  But once I started seminary I stopped writing music and started to write theological papers, and sermons.  I spent more time sitting around reading theological books instead of playing my guitar.

As I start to pack up my apartment I came across a folder with my long lost lyrics and music.  I think I will post the lyrics as written on my blog.  My mindset is light years away from when I wrote these lyrics.  I was a Lutheran back then but I did not have as good a handle on Lutheran Theology as I do now.
I hope now I can take some time and work on my music some more– it is something I do miss and want to get back into.

Fall Down

Verse 1:

The sun comes up a little brighter

The stars a little clearer

My soul rests in your grace

My heart delights in your peace

Now that I found you

Now that I found you…..my Lord

Chorus:

You took on my salvation

I lay my worries to the ground

I pray to you my savior

Lift me up when I…….fall down

Verse 2:

My Jesus, My devotion

My creator, my emotion

Your grace baffles me

Your sacrifice has set me free

Now that I found you

Now that I found you…..My Lord

Yesterday it happened — I handed in my final paper.  I am officially done with seminary.  No more papers to write or books to read for my seminary education.  Unless I totally missed the mark on one of my papers I can say that I am done with seminary.  Graduation is on Sunday and I can’t wait.  My parents are coming down from Vermont and I have some good friends in the area that are coming up to celebrate.  It will be one of the greatest days of my life.

Like most blogs that I have read with seminary graduates the days leading up to graduation is a time of reflection on the last four years of my life.  I have spend the last four years working on papers, reading books and providing ministry to many people.  To think that I have been in contact with thousands of people between my field education site, CPE site, Internship site, and the church that I worked at my senior year.  There have been a lot of great memories and I have created a lot of great relationships.  It will be sad to say good-bye.

This past Sunday I worked my last day at the church I have been working at as a youth director this past year.  The first six months was very fusterating because nothing that I did worked.  We just did not have the kids to do anything.  But then in January kids started coming out and we have had a pretty successful program.  It was very sad for me to say good-bye. The kids are great and I am going to miss them for sure.

So two of the things that have taken up majority of my time is over….done and done.

____________________________

I am still in pain from my fall the other day.  It is my back that hurts.  I can’t sit at all and I finally decided to go and see the doctor this afternoon.  I am not sure what they will do — last fall when I had a constant pain in my back they just gave me pain medicine.  But this is a different type of pain so I don’t know if there is something else that they can do.  I am glad that all I have to do now is rest.

_____________________________

There is not much news on the first call front.  I am waiting until the end of May for my trial sermon and interview.  I am very excited about it and nervous that it goes well.  Not only is this church a  great church but I am very excited to finally be settled and working on ministry.  As things advance I will keep everyone updated.

That’s all for now. I hope to catchup on my blogging the next few days.  There have been lots of things I want to blog on and reflections that I would like to share so come back and visit again soon.