Renewed

Some people may well think I am crazy to say that by going to El Salvador, I come back renewed, but that is always the case. Even though I may come back tired (and with a cold, thanks to flying), I am energised from the culture, the music, the food and, most of all, the people. This trip was no different from others.

Sunday the 18th, the bishop of El Salvador and I concelebrated at a congregation who was celebrating its patronal feast day of Saint Joseph. The following Sunday, I presided at the Eucharist in the small chapel in the diocesan office building. It was so restorative to be able to be a priest again in community after this long desert time.

I led a day-long Lenten retreat for the clergy and a half-day conference on Holy Week for the laity, participated in an interfaith event to commemorate Msr Oscar Romero, walked in the candlelight procession down Avenida Roosevelt from Salvador del Mundo to El Rosario (since Catedral has been occupied since 10 January with no sign of the occupiers leaving) and visited and met with my Salvadoran sisters and brothers.

One never knows whom one will meet... in this case, Gaspar Romero, Oscar Romero's brother, who spoke at an event sponsored by the Attorney General's Office on Human Rights.

Shame on Texas

From the NY Times in an article about Texas slashing funds for women's medical care

But the clinic closed in October, along with more than a dozen others in the state, after financing for women’s health was slashed by two-thirds by the Republican-controlled Legislature.

The cuts, which left many low-income women with inconvenient or costly options, grew out of the effort to eliminate state support for Planned Parenthood. Although the cuts also forced clinics that were not affiliated with the agency to close — and none of them, even the ones run by Planned Parenthood, performed abortions — supporters of the cutbacks said they were motivated by the fight against abortion.

Now, the same sentiment is likely to lead to a shutdown next week of another significant source of reproductive health care: the Medicaid Women’s Health Program, which serves 130,000 women with grants to many clinics, including those run by Planned Parenthood. Gov. Rick Perry and Republican lawmakers have said they would forgo the $35 million in federal money that finances the women’s health program in order to keep Planned Parenthood from getting any of it.

In what year are we? You say 2012? Really? I'd say it is more like the 1950s or 1960s. Depressing.

A new way of being

The past

The present

On 20 February, the movers came and took all my big stuff out of the rectory and moved it (with some great difficulty getting up our icy road) to the rental house I have until July. Yesterday, on Leap Year Day, after thoroughly cleaning the rectory, I walked out of it for the last time.

Thus beginneth the new way of being.

Agatha now is in our little house by herself. She seems much happier without the other three. Our little house is 100 yards away from the rental house.

For the first time in twenty years, I do not have my La Palma angels flying over my head. Instead, I have a window which means I can look out at the stars (or snow) even as I lie there.

Aelred also can look out the window... at Anne who is snowblowing the driveway in front of my car.

Aelred and August explored the house today (poor Sophia is at the vet recovering from having her right canine extracted — she broke it years ago, missing the counter as she tried to jump up on it). Aelred seemed OK with things. August was terrified.

My wonderful Salvadoran aumbry now has a new home in my study. On the shelf below it, my amice and cincture lie ready to be used... they will be on Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and Easter when I supply at another Vermont Episcopal church.

It is going to take a while to dig the car out tomorrow but I must, because I have a funeral to attend and then go to Rutland to get Sophia.

The new way of being is that I do not have land line at the house; therefore, I do not have internet there. I can get the microcell signal from our house so my phone gets one bar; I am not totally cut off but working off an iPhone for the internet is tedious. So I am living a quasi retreat-like experience of dragging my laptop down to our house for the evening hours, knowing that when I go back up the hill, I am once again offline.

Now that I am fully out of the rectory and, therefore, completely finished with Trinity, it is time to start looking for a new cure. I know that will take time but I must get going.

In any event, the past two weeks have been full, very full, so full that I took a two-hour nap this afternoon... with both August and Aelred keeping me warm.