Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Sadness

On my way to Port Austin, Michigan, a deep sadness came over me after visiting a nursing home.

Parkinson's Disease caused one elderly lady to shake during our conversation.  The nurse told of her satisfying life teaching, while her husband told of his "quiet" funeral home.

Memory lapses from some.

Loneliness for some.

All of it got me thinking as I drove to meet a friend in Bad Axe for dinner.

And, that thinking is what my dad always warned me about.

"You think too much," dad would say.

And, I would go play then.

Gone fishing for a day, at least.

That should revive and recreate me.

Always does as I visit my brother before returning home to downtown Detroit.

Friday, October 17, 2014

Think Tank: Theological Reflection on ISIS with Clergy, Specialists

A rigorous discussion of a clergy circle, among others is set for Monday, Oct. 27th from 5 pm in Detroit Unity Temple, hosted by Gregory Guice and Care of the Soul and Companions Counseling All-Faiths Festival.

Welcome.

Invited guests include Bishop Francis Kalabat and/or spokesperson for the Chaldean Catholic Community, and the Arab-American News.

Is Your Teenager Alcohol Attached?

Teen drinking is a challenge but not unbeatable.

Monitor his or her discussion about getting drunk, perhaps.

Does teen know of variety of brands of liquor?

Are teen's friends morphed for the worse?

Does teen get in trouble at work, report absences, is tardy?

Does he or she have trouble staying in stable time span at same job over a period of time?



Friday, October 10, 2014

To Support and Encourage with Pastoral Care, Compassion

That's the aim of a new task I took on today.

Police chaplaincy for Hamtramck, MI.

I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of Michigan, and that I will faithfully perform the duties of the office of Police Department Chaplain in and for the City of Hamtramck, County of Wayne, according to the best of my ability, so help me God.

With Police Chief Maxwell Garbarino and City Clerk August R. Gitschlag, I said those words to serve in the name of all interfaith clergy who lift up first responders on the front lines in terribly turbulent times.

God help me.

MASCULINE ALLIANCE OF LEARNERS IN EXPERIENCE (M.A.L.E.)

7 Tuesdays
Oct. 28 - Dec. 9, 2013
5:30-6:45 pm

WISDOM WELCOME!

Hamtramck, MI., Public Library
2360 Caniff
Hamtramck, MI. 48212


Meet-up with other women and men
exploring their story, roots and
relationships.

High school age and older welcome to register
at praisethemaker1234@yahoo.com
313 530 2777


Facilitator: Dr. Lawrence M. Ventline


Care of the Soul and Companions Counseling
All-Faiths Festival of Metropolitan Detroit, MI.,
host

IGNITING EACH ONE'S DIGITY AND WORK BY AWAKENING IT
IN SELF AND OTHERS ONE PERSON AT A TIME!

Sources:
The Psalms of the Hebrew Scriptures
Richard Rohr, OFM
Anne Wilson Sheaf

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Focus:HOPE Walk

Join me for a stroll or a run, Sunday, Oct. 12, 1 pm. Register at www.focushope.edu/run.

Veterans Meet in Mainstreet Grill First Tuesdays at 7 pm in Detroit

For inspiration and scripture, veterans are welcome to join me in the Grill and Coney Island at 1985 E. Jefferson, Detroit.  For more call me at (313) 530 2777.

Faithfully Yours: Hello Fall, My Old Friend!

I've come to talk with you again.

With thanks to "Bridge Over Troubled Water" singers Simon and Garfunkel.

Fall-like feelings fill, even flood my soul as summer gave way to its sunny rays.

Darker days envelope me as I await the Artist's coloring of the green leaves with orange and gold and brown.

My walk even seems to quicken as I tend to jump over fallen leaves as I aim to let them be.

Fall's procession reminds me of my own feet pressing the ground's soil and soon-to-fall snow that blankets Michigan in whiteness.

I begin to be a friend of autumn's visit only to know inside that summer will have its revenge once more.

My winter wonderland in Detroit this years will unfold as this heart, at least, is gratefully welcoming.

Hello Fall, my old friend!





Fed Up, Fired Up, Detroit City Council Member Mary Sheffield Takes City Hall to the Streets

Detroit, Michigan Mayor Denny Duggan was on hand Friday night as a new initiative, "Occupy the Corner," was launched with City Council Member Mary Sheffield at Lafayette/Chene in zip code 48205 having Detroit's highest  crime rate.


"We're fired up and fed up," hundreds of clergy and resident chanted October 3rd when most City officials were at home other than Council Member Cushionberry who join Sheffield and the Mayor under a tent as rain drizzled amid singing of "Amazing Grace,"  "We Shall Overcome," and more.


Fired up they were.


And, fed up.


Tired of crime in the struggling 'hood" where neighbor seems to have been taken out of the sparsely populated streets in a town that vied with Chicago and New York once upon a time.


After a spirited "bullhorn" session, the crowd walked over to the Martin Luther King Apartments to distribute  service opportunities such as jot hints with Detroit Employment Solutions, Sheffield said the City contracted with to aid the impoverished and drug-infested strip mall where a Spartan store, Family Fair Food, and the Elmwood Park Library is situated alongside a row of unkempt and empty storefronts.


Sheffield was knocking on doors and greeting residents who warmly welcome her literature and zest.


Other such "Occupy the Corner" initiatives are set for a few remaining Fall Fridays at the corner.


The program drew one City Council member from Brooklyn who told the tale of a similar "Occupy the Corner" in New York, along with remarks from a minister who was tapped by Sheffield to wrap up his talk after his admonition to participants to report criminals.


I imagine a tent with my decades-old organization's sandwich-board sign, "All-faiths Festival Care of the Soul" sitting at that corner Sunday for a praise service.


And, I bet the "fired up" Sheffield, among others, will join me as I lead the worshipers.


Pets Prowling Through Edifices Today: The Francis Effect

At 2 pm today at the former St. Edmund Church (now St. Faustina) on Twelve Mile Road, east of Schoenherr in Warren, Michigan, furry pet friends, and more, will be prowling about the edifice, and elsewhere as a blessing of Saint Francis of Assisi, Italy has its enduring effect for pet owners.

Francis was noted for his persistent love of animals when he was told in a vision by God, it is recorded, "to rebuild my church."  At first, the "outside the box" saint who is endeared by many long after his debut in the 12th century, took the vision's message literally and started to build brick by brick allegedly.

With rampant corruption, and more, Francis was asked to bring "fresh air" to the fledgling institution.

I'll be there with my Bichon Frise, "Woofie," for some holy water and a sign of the cross to ask God's blessing upon that fury white creature who is my companion where I reside in Detroit near Jefferson and Joseph Campau, a stone's throw from a bustling and booming downtown now.  Detroit is about to be lifted from bankruptcy, the first of a major urban city.  Kevin Orr, an attorney, was hired to be Motown's Emergency Manager for over a year.