Saturday Funnies

Apropos to The Carbon Fast for Lent. Who says saving the world can't be funny? (Click on any image to enlarge)



OK, this one may be funny, but I didn't get it. To me, "HRC" is the Human Rights Campaign, and I don't recall any news about them recently. Can anyone clue me in? Update: Never mind! I actually had to look it up in wikipedia, but HRC can also mean Hillary Rodham Clinton. Duh!


And now that I am about to move to a new parish - with a vicarage, no less, I'm going to have to scout around until I find the secret entrances (hat tip to Scott Gunn, courtesy of CartoonChurch.com):
And finally, one more relative to the Carbon Fast:

Enjoy!

RFSJ

A Carbon Fast for Lent: Day 16

Day 16: Switch off lights as you leave the room.

When I was growing up, my mom always reminded me to do that, and I had gotten in the habit. I think I lost that habit when I became single and was rattling around in a big house, just me and the dog. I suppose it felt safer, warmer, less empty, to have some lights on. I didn't get it much thought then, as I was thinking about other things.

I'm going to be moving to a very nice 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 2-story Victorian house that St. Thomas' is providing as the vicarage. The congregation has done an amazing amount of work on it, including all new windows (courtesy of the Diocese of Newark), a complete new kitchen, new very nice carpeting upstairs, and repaired hardwood floors downstairs, which I just love. Now Vernon and the parish complex is rural or semi-rural, and so I may well feel very much alone again. I'll have to conscientiously think about the lights here too. The vicarage is almost as big as my old home in Indianapolis, and I won't be enfolded in the embrace of a city, which is what I'm used to.

Grant, most merciful Lord, to your faithful people pardon and peace, that they may be cleansed from all their sins, and serve you with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

RFSJ

Thoughts on The Price Is Right 2008 Edition

So I'm watching The Price Is Right in prime time with new host Drew Carey. Most everything on the show is pretty much the same except for the host and the models - can't call them Barker's Beauties anymore. But it occurred to me - in 2008, why do the models have to be women? Why can't we have some handsome guy models on the show too?

I'm just sayin'

RFSJ

The Worst is Yet to Come?

From the front page of today's New York Times:

Read it all here. This could affect me personally, so it's disturbing, not only because I do think the government should be involved when a major market like housing fails, to ensure social stability and cohesion. Owning one's own home has been a bedrock policy of successive administrations since WWII, and rightly so. Now the Administration says it isn't interested in helping out consumers who are underwater. They made bad choices, now they have to live with it, supposedly goes the thinking. But when so many people are or are going to be affected, I wonder if principle must give way to practicality. I doubt we can afford the social cost of potentially millions of people affected in this way. Believe it or not, I do tend to be a free-marketer; the housing market has failed from extra-market forces and because the market players - consumers, mostly - did not have full information to participate rationally in the market, which is a basic requirement for effective markets.

I also wonder if I may have to do something if my own house in Indianapolis has to go on the market.

RFSJ

A Carbon Fast for Lent: Day 15

Day 15: Snub plastic bags. Get into the habit of taking your rucksack (or backpack, etc.) to the supermarket or go retro with a cart. Ask your supermarket to remove unnecessary packaging.

Turns out there are all sorts of biodegradable things you can get to help with this. Emily of The Lost Albatross posted some links over at Daily Mitzvah about biodegradable poop bags and shopping/kitchen bags. She also pointed out that there are companies working on "bioplastics" that are not based on fossil fuels. Check them all out.

I myself am not very good with much of this. More reflections later, but for me, the mere acting of doing a daily entry about each of the days of the Carbon Fast have opened my eyes in a lot of different ways. Seems to me the hysteria from the Right about A) the science is wrong or at least exaggerated; or B) it would cost too much to do anyway, is just overblown. I think it's more selfishness: people will use any excuse simply to not change their lifestyle. I guess it's kind of like sitting in poop. Even if you know that after a while it will stink and could even kill you because of infection and all that, they won't change because for the moment it's warm and even comfortable. There. That's my own contribution to exageration and hyperbole on this topic. And the worst of it is, I'm one of those people! I am doing a tererible job of reducing my carbon footprint. And I accept the science (what's not to accept?) and am persuaded by the dangers.

And then I am reminded about what's perhaps equally or even more important as we continue to debate this as a global society:

Grant, O Lord, that as your Son Jesus Christ prayed for his enemies on the cross, so we may have grace to forgive those who wrongfully or scornfully use us, that we ourselves may be able to receive your forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

RFSJ

Please Rejoice with Me!

All,

Notice anything different about the sidebar? The link to my resume is missing. Good news at last. After a long search, I’ve just accepted a call as Vicar of St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church in Vernon, New Jersey. My first Sunday is March 9. Vernon is in Northwest New Jersey, in Sussex County. We are about 140 families worshipping in two services in a relatively new church and parish hall. We still have our first parish building, a little clapboard Gothic chapel that is still consecrated. (You can see the front of the Chapel and the back of the Church to the right.) Our mission statement is:

Mission Statement

We are a growing church family that reaches
into and beyond the community.
We have a relaxed and supportive environment,
steeped in Christian tradition.
We value new opportunities to enrich the minds
and souls of all who come here.

You can read more about St. Thomas's as the parish profile from this just-concluded search is still up on our website.

There will be a Celebration of New Ministry sometime in late spring. Once that’s scheduled, I’ll let you know!

I will continue my Lenten discipline of blogging about the Carbon Fast for Lent on a daily basis, and I also intend to report on my move and how that's going. First step: get quotes from movers. New Jerseyans in particular: any movers to recommend or avoid?

RFSJ

A Carbon Fast for Lent: Day 14

Today is is Thursday in the Second Week of Lent, and that makes it Day 14 in the Carbon Fast for Lent. Today's activity:

Day 14: Take a shower instead of a bath: you'll heat less water.

Well, I always take a shower anyway, and the head in my shower is one of those low-water-density ones that still spray a nice spray. But since this is the UK version, I guess baths are something the English like to do. I suspect most Americans take showers, I don't know. I haven't regularly taken a bath in a very long time.

I'm reminded of those huge ceiling mounted shower heads in some hotels - it's like standing in very heavy warm rain. It's quite nice, but it sure uses a lot fo water. And then I'm reminded of the fountains on the Las Vegas Strip - they are amazing but I cannot help but wincing that they are running fountains in the middle of the desert, when Lake Meade is going dry!

O Lord, strong and mighty, Lord of hosts and King of glory: Cleanse our hearts from sin, keep our hands pure, and turn our minds from what is passing away; so that at the last we may stand in your holy place and receive your blessing; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

RFSJ

Last Night's Total Lunar Eclipse...

Oh, you didn't know there was one? If you lived in the Mid-Atlantic area you wouldn't - it was overcast last night at 10:36 PM. But it happened, and there are some excellent pix over at Telling Secrets.

RFSJ

A Carbon Fast for Lent: Day 12 and 13

Well, I didn't post yesterday so, today I'll catch up. Getting right to the point:

Day 12: Tell politicians to take action on climate change today. Check out Tearfund's campaign work at tearfund.org/climate.

Now, Tearfund is a UK organization. I don't really know what US organizations there are. Greenpeace? MoveOn.org? Sierra Club? What are the most influential organizations working on climate change? Tell us who to look into in Comments.

Day 13: Put the heat on your electricity or gas suppliers and ask them if they have a green plan. Make the switch and feel cosy.

Turns out PSE&G, the local utility, does have a green plan for consumers. I have no way of evaluating if its any good, and I can't switch to it directly because I am currently a renter. but I can ask my landlord about it. How does PSE&G's plan compare with others? Is anyone using their own local plan? Let us know in Comments.

O God, you so loved the world that you gave your only-begotten Son to reconcile earth with heaven: Grant that we, loving you above all things, may love our friends in you, and our enemies for your sake; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

RFSJ

No, Uganda is *Not* Seceding After All

From the Anglican Communion News Service

A CORRECTION on the Church of Uganda position regarding the Anglican Communion and the Lambeth Conference

“The Church of Uganda is not seceding from the Anglican Communion,” said Revd Canon Aaron Mwesigye, church spokesperson. “Some press stories have misrepresented our position.”

“The plain fact is that we are simply not attending the Lambeth Conference in July 2008, but we are still very much a part of the Anglican Communion.”

I'm glad they are not seceding, and sad they are not coming to Lambeth.

My thanks to Ann Fontaine from HOB/D for letting me know.

RFSJ

Did Uganda Secede from the Anglican Communion?

Readers know I don't usually comment too much on the goings-on of the Worldwide Anglican Communion, because there are lots of websites (including in All Sorts and Conditions of Sites, to the left) that do cover such news extensively. But occasionally I do enter into the fray. This is one of those times:

Thinking Anglicans have reported that the Province of Uganda has said through an official spokespoerson that it will withdraw from the Anglican Communion (here and here).

The quote is, "Anglicanism is just an identity and if they abuse it, we shall secede," he [The Rev. Canon Aaron Mwesigye, the provincial secretary of the Church of Uganda] said. "Yes, we shall remain Christians but not in the same [Anglican] Communion."

If verified, this is the first time an entire Province has dissociated itself with the Archbishop of Canterbury and with all others who claim the identity "Anglican."

I personally think this is huge news and can't really understand why TA has buried it in a post called "More reports from Uganda."

If "they abuse it"? How arrogant. Anglican identity has always been a "big tent" sort of thing, and to say that it is those who are claiming a big tent ideal who are abusing Anglican identity is simply hubris.

I truly believe that the Lord calls us to stay at the Table no matter what. That's what "One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God and Father of all" means. St. Paul was very clear that we break One Bread because we are One Body. And that's forever. I hate to see anyone walk away because he or she cannot agree with something, especially if no one is insisting that that something be applied to everybody. No one is asking Uganda or any other Province to ordain openly gay bishops or allow same-sex blessings. We here in The Episcopal Church do believe this is within the freedom of the Gospel, but we have never ever said that everyone worldwide has to go along.

Pray for the Church.

RFSJ

A Carbon Fast for Lent: Day 11

Day 11: Use local shops or farmers' markets (farmersmarkets.net) - UK only instead of driving to out-of-town shopping centers. They will thank you; supermarkets won't notice your absence.

The closest grocery store to me is actually only a block away, so this one pretty easy for me. Also, there's a very large store not more than half a mile a way, and it's actually walkable, in that all the streets have crosswalks and crossing lights. No darting across multiple lanes of traffic with bags of groceries!

Can you walk to get your groceries today? Tell us how you did it. If it's too far, let us know that too.

Let your Spirit, O Lord, come into the midst of us to wash us with the pure water of repentance, and prepare us to be always a living sacrifice to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

RFSJ

Monday Funnies

Here's a Valentine strategy for you research scientists out there for next year - better start now!
(Click to enlarge all images)


This is so true! I had totally forgotten the original "I lost my password" story!



And this one too: They're damned if they do, and damned if they do the other way. Unlike others, I tend to think elected officials are fine as delegates. Yhey have constituencies to satisfy as well, and actually have to potentially work with whomever they help nominate. So I like the current mix in the Democratic party of about 20% of all delegates as elected and party officials. Our artist below wonders:

And finally, from today's Metropolitan Diary of the NYT.:

Dear Diary:

I recently pointed out to my friend the seemingly paradoxical claim of an ad above the construction site at 535 West End Avenue, which informs that the building will have “21st-Century Prewar Residences.”

In response, he wondered whether they might know something we don’t about our foreign policy. Barry B. Perlman, M.D.

RFSJ

The Proper of the Day: The Second Sunday in Lent

My favorite Lenten cycle is Year A, when so many of the Gospel lessons are from the Gospel of John, my favorite. Today on this Second Sunday in Lent we heard the glorious and unfortunately often-misused story of Nicodemus, who came to Jesus by night. It includes perhaps the most well-known verse in all of Scripture, John 3:16, and ends with perhaps the most underused verse in Scripture, John 3:17. I attempted in my sermon today to give a new glimpse into what God's love is like. My view is strongly Johannine in influence (no surprise there!) but I was definitely treading some new ground here. I'd be curious especially to hear your thoughts and reactions to what I offered at Trinity Parish this morning:

Trinity Parish in Bergen Point

Second Sunday in Lent 2008 (RCL)

Genesis 12:1-4a; Ps 121; Romans 4:1-5; 13-17; John 3:1-17

The Rev. R. F. Solon, Jr.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts always be acceptable in your sight, O God our Strength and Our Redeemer. Amen.

There’s not a person here who does not use electricity every day Think about what you use it for, for a minute. . We couldn’t live without it. We use it for the lights, for our electronics, sometimes for our heat. Sometimes our stoves work by electricity, and even when they’re gas, it’s electricity that still powers the timer and the exhaust fan and all that. Our cars need electricity – I’ve just had to put a new battery in my car after it started to wear down and I couldn’t start it anymore. I had to jump start it twice in the past week or so, which is how I knew I needed that new battery in the first place. When I was serving supply at St. Thomas’ Vernon, I stayed overnight each Saturday in the vicarage. There isn’t a lot of furniture there, but more importantly, not too many lights. I found I really missed having those lights I ‘m used to in my own home and now am starting to really need. It was kind of dark and a little spooky. Kind of like a brownout but one that won’t get any better. And there’s hardly any aspect of our lives that doesn’t need electricity in some way, shape, or form. It’s always on, we never have to think about it. We turn on the switch and ta da! The light comes on, and all is good.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the word, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

My friends, I think the love of God is kind of like electricity. It’s always on, always there, and we actually never have to worry that it won’t be there. Unlike what we get from PSE&G, we can be absolutely assured that it will be there when we need it. And that makes us kind of like any of the appliances or lights or whatever that actually run on electricity. All we have to do to access God’s love is to plug in and turn on. I know that sounds like something from the 60s, but it’s true. This most famous verse in all of Scripture is, for me, the Good News itself. God loves us and forgives us through Jesus. All we have to do is accept that that forgiveness exists and is personally intedned for each of us, for you and for me – to plug ourselves into that unending, never-blacking-out presence of the almighty, and it’s ours. And unlike the failings of the utility company, God’s assurance of forgiveness, of complete acceptance of us and who we are, never ever ends.

Buy you know what, there’s even a better analogy for God’s love. It’s the World wide Web. Yup. The web. Now I know that not everyone here has used the Web or even has a computer, so bear with me a little bit. The idea of the World Wide Web is that information can be anywhere in the world. It’s just a matter of getting to it. so every computer that is connected into the Web has a unique identification number. Now we humans don’t do very well with streams of numbers, so we use those www. addresses instead. So if I want to see information on Trinity Parish, for example, I can type in www.trinityparishbayone.org into my web browser, and the computers behind the scenes turns that into the specific ID number for trinity’s web page, and then sends the information to my computer, which also has a specific and unique ID as well. You can actually look at maps of the Web and it looks remarkably like a spider’s web. There are a few web sites that have thousands and millions of connections, and they branch out in all directions and connect to other kinds of sites as well. The really cool thing about the World Wide Web is that you only need a single connection to any other site or node in the Web and you can get connected to the whole thing. For most of us, getting an email address is really akin to getting connected into the Web, because our email address has to be unique, ours alone, like those strings of numbers that identify the millions and millions of computers already connected to the be Web.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the word, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

I think the web is a better analogy for the love of God because it incorporates something really significant about God and God’s desire for humanity. You see, that love is not just for each of us individually, it’s for all humanity. God wants to connect to each us in a spiritual world wide web, but not only that. God want each of us to connect to everybody else as well, not just spiritually, but in our day-to-day lives. When we connect into the electricity network, the network can’t tell anything about what has just been connected except that it’s drawing more electricity. There’s no communication over the wires, the network, to other things that are also plugged in. The Web seems like a better way to think about God’s love because, once you’re connected in, you still are unique and are linked in back and forth not only to God but to all of humanity as well. Each of us maintains our individuality as one of God’s created persons and at the same time we can begin interacting with all the others who are connected in as well.

Now, you know that in both the electricity network as well as the WWW that you can go online or off. Even if you’re plugged in, you can be off, like a light or the TV or something. Same thing with a computer or printer or anything else on the web. The web “dial tone” if you will, is always on. That’s God’s love. And as I’ve said, unlike the various human networks, that dial tone of god’s love will never go down. But we can plugged in or not. And even when we’re plugged in, we can be online – connected to the network so that it knows we’re there, or offline, when the network can’t reach us. And if I may stretch this analogy one more time, I think that a little like what Jesus was talking about by being born of both water and spirit. This story from John’s Gospel is about the closest he gets to discussing baptism. Remember, there’s no Baptism of Jesus in this gospel. We have this story instead. And Jesus tells N. he has to be born of both water and spirit. Baptism is a sacrament, and we say sacraments are outward and visible signs of inward and invisible grace. Since we can’t really see God’s grace, sacraments help us access that grace and love in a real and visceral way. And we can’t completely describe what a sacrament is or what it does and how it does it. we have all sorts of analogies for what happens in Baptism, and we recount those at the Blessing Over the Water at the baptismal service itself. So I’m going to suggest that baptism with water – the physical sacrament that each of us undergoes, it kind of like being plugged in to the world wide web of God. When we’re baptized we get assigned a unique ID in the entire network - our name or userID or spiritual email address if you will – and that ID is ours forever and can never be taken away from us. That’s the water part. So we can never be unplugged in that respect. But each of can and perhaps often is either online with God or offline. And that’s not anything god does or does not do. That’s our own doing. God’s love - the spiritiual internet dial tone – isd always up. God’s internet never goes down. And even though each of us never loses our unique userIDs, we aren’t always online with god’s love. Sometimes we’re offline. And I think that’s like the baptism with the spirit. The water part is forever. The spirit part – our spirit part, is sometimes not as tuned into God’s love as we could be. When that happens, we’re offline and we’re not getting the grace signals that god and the rest of interconnected humanity is sending us and wants to receive back from us too.

Lent, it seems to me, can be seen as that time of the year when we deliberately pause to see what is keeping us from being as online in God’s network as we can be. What is it that is keeping you from accessing God’s love and grace? That’s why we spend these six weeks leading up to Easter, so we can make sure we’re as open and ready to participate in that blessed network as we can. We prayed today, “Bring us again with penitent hears and steadfast faith to embrace and ever hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son.” This Lent, let me encourage you to consider how are you are or not online with God. There are all kinds of ways to do that. Let me suggest a couple. On Ash Wednesday we recited the Litany of Penitence. You might find that a way to start. On the Easter Vigil we will also renew our baptismal covenant. There are series of promises we make and remake about being online with God. You might take five minutes a day to look over the Ash Wednesday service or the Easter Vigil service and see how those lists may be inspiring you to one or more new intentions in your life. You might decide to read a bit of the Gospel each day and think about how the Good News brings you online with God. If you want to, feel free to take a Prayer Book home with you and reread either of these sections or to get a list of Scripture readings. Just bring it back when you’re done so others can share it as well! And there are lots of other ways to work on getting online with God. You can always ask on of us clergy for help too. If one particular method isn’t working for you, maybe another one will.

This whole idea of God’s love as like the Internet may or may not work for you. That’s OK. The point is that each of us trys and trys again to understand what is being offerred and how we want to respond to it. But not matter what analogy you find yourself most comfortable with. And it isn’t an analogy at all. It’s the one absolutely surefire way to practice getting and staying connected. Even if nothing else seems to be working, even if you can’t seem to find God’s grace in your life anywhere else, you can find it right here. Every Sunday, we celebrate that God is online with us, and we reconnect ourselves to God in that other sacrament, the sacrament of Holy Communion. Communion means “connect with” after all, and that’s what we do: we get back online with God and not only God, but each other as well. So this Lententide, I invite you to get back online with God. The more you do it, the easier it gets. That love, that grace, is always present, always available. God wants you and me to be in God’s network so much that he gave his only Son to set up the initial connection, so that everyone who believes in him may not be unplugged but may be online, with God and all of humanity, for ever.

In the Name of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, Amen.

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

RFSJ

A Carbon Fast For Lent: Day 10

Day 10: Give your dishwasher a day off or promote it to a Grade A energy efficient appliance.

Well, my dishwasher is my own two arms and some suds. I don't know if it's more energy efficient or not. I guess it is, because, I let the dishes airdry rather than having an electric heater dry them off.

I wonder, though, if I had a dishwasher and then replaced it with a more energy-efficient one: what would happen to the old one? Does it go to a junkyard, or what? And how good for the ecosystem is that in the long run, if so?

O God, by your Word you marvelously carry out the work of reconciliation: Grant that in our Lenten fast we may be devoted to you with all our hearts, and united with one another in prayer and holy love; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

RFSJ

I feel like this today

(click to enlarge)

RFSJ

A Carbon Fast For Lent: Day 9

Day 9: Climate change isn't a distant threat – it's affecting poor communities now. Pray for the work of all organizations working on climate change to help vulnerable communities adapt to the changing weather.

What organization will you pray for today? Me? Episcopal Relief and Development.

Lord Christ, our eternal Redeemer, grant us such fellowship in thy sufferings, that, filled with thy Holy Spirit, we may subdue the flesh to the spirit, and the spirit to thee, and at the last attain to the glory of thy resurrection; who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

RFSJ

A Carbon Fast for Lent: Day 8 Again!

Turns out the UK version of the Carbon Fast list only has 40 entries, so Sundays are excluded. This is is right, of course, because all fasts are dispensed on Sundays, even in Lent. So I could go with the American version of the Carbon Fast, but I like the liturgical sensibilities of the UK version better. So that means today is Day 8 again. Is your phone charger unplugged if you aren't using it?

There was an interesting skip in the Scripture cycle for Morning Prayer today. We've been reading from the Joseph cycle in Genesis, and yesterday we finished up Ch. 37, with Joseph being sold into slavery. Today we were to read Ch. 39, which recounts how Joseph was blessed by God in all he did. He was also handsome and caught the eye of his master's wife, but she framed him when he wouldn't have sex with her. A little R-rated scripture to start off the day never hurt anyone....

But what about chapter 38? This is the unfortunate story of Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar, and it's also R-rated. I can see how the lectionary editors would just skip it because it doesn't have too much to do with the main part of the Joseph story. But there's something I discovered while reading it today anyway. It was actually in a footnote. There were two children as a result of this liasion, Perez and his brother. What I didn't realize is that Perez is the ancestor of Boaz, Ruth, and Kind David, and therefore traditionally an ancestor of Jesus as well. And in fact Matthew's geneology of Jesus makes this very clear:

³⁴⁵⁶Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David.

So the greatest King in Israel's history, the model for all kings after him, was a descendant of incest. If God can use all these sorts and conditions of humanity to work his will in the world, what can he do with you and me if we let him?

Strengthen us, O Lord, by your grace, that in your might we may overcome all spiritual enemies, and with pure hearts serve you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

RFSJ

A Carbon Fast For Lent: Day 8

Day 8: Unplug your mobile phone charger: it uses electricity even when it's not charging.

OK....excuse me for a moment....done!

I was really thinking about my carbon fast today when I shelled out $1600 in car repairs. I went in for 45K maintenance and the service manager pointed out all the other things that I should have done to keep my investment running well. Sigh. he was right, but replacing the timing belt 11,000 miles early hurt. He explained that although the car didn't have a lot of miles on it (49,000) it was a 2002 model and the belts deteriorate with age and not just usage. Why can't they make belts that don't do that? Planned obsolescence, i suppose - it keeps chumps like me paying for the maintenance rather than just waiting for the damn thing to fail.

Anyway, who is the saint in charge of cars? I'll say a prayer for not having to keep doing this. I've been a fan of preventative maintenance (it's a common topic in IT for computers, servers, etc.) and it should be done for cars too. Still, being a carbonista is expensive! Just think of the moolah I'd have if I didn't have a car - didn't *have* to have a car....

Bless us, O God, in this holy season, in which our hearts seek your help and healing; and so purify us by your discipline that we may grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

RFSJ

A Carbon Fast For Lent: Day 7

Well, life is never easy. I and others have discovered there are two, possibly three, slightly different daily activity lists for a Carbon Fast for Lent. All three are on the Facebook page I created (you might have to be a Facebook member to see it), but it's nice to know that there are more than enought ideas floating around!

Day 7 (Tuesday): Check that all electrical equipment is switched off rather than on standby when not in use. Screen savers do not save electricity.

Hmmm. I leave my cable box on all the time, which is where the wi-fi point is plugged in. Perhaps I should be turning if off each morning. I'll try it. As I sit here thinking about it, my only snark is that it takes time to reboot each time I turn it on. On the other hand, so what? am I ever doing anything that requires instant internet or cable access, Right Now?

Grant to your people, Lord, grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and with pure hearts and minds to follow you, the only true God; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

RFSJ