--Today is the feast day of Archbishop Romero. For a more focused discussion on his life and why he's still relevant, see this post on my theology page. I made this collage card more than a few years ago now. When I made it, it seemed impossible that he would ever be made a saint. Wow.
--I was happy to be able to "attend" the Romero lecture at my seminary--ah, the wonders of technology. And now, you can too, at the Wesley Theological Seminary You Tube page here. Dr. Debora Agra Junker presented a compelling talk entitled "Collective Indignation-Imagination: The Prophetic Duty of Our Times."
--I was sad to hear that Madeleine Albright died--what an amazing brain she had. As I read this appreciation of her work in The Washington Post, I thought about what a different world we would have if more leaders had listened to her along the way.
--I was happy to hear that the Violence Against Women act was re-authorized. Finally! I realize the money was still being spent on these programs, but I'm happy for the official recognition. Similarly, I'm glad that Congress passed legislation to make lynching an official crime--how hard can this be?
--Today I will write a poem that begins this way: On the feast day of Archbishop Romero, she feeds the cats. I am hoping to write a poem that makes important connections. We shall see.
--My poetry brain feels a bit shriveled. I need to get back to writing more poetry. I'm not doing much in the way of submissions either. That process has gotten expensive and feels increasingly futile.
--It's also strange to hear about so many people heading to Philadelphia for the AWP convention that starts today. At one point, I thought I might be living in D.C., where it would be easy to go in terms of travel--no plane. But it's still a lot of money for the hotel, and we're still in a pandemic, where I thought lots of stuff might be cancelled. And did I mention how much money it is? I'm taking that money and going to several retreats, which will likely feed my soul in different and important ways.
--Yesterday, instead of travelling to Philadelphia, I spent hours on the phone this morning sorting out COBRA health insurance issues. Happily I was able to get the issues sorted out to restore our dental insurance--and I got our rental condo vacuumed while I was on hold.
--I want to make note of an encounter in my church's parking lot last night. I was there to pick my spouse up after he went to choir rehearsal, and I grabbed a quick dinner with a friend and former student. One of our church friends who also sang with my spouse in the Broward Chorale. She wanted to tell me again about how moving my sermon was, how she continued to think about it, which was rare for her. I preached that sermon on March 13, and it didn't go as smoothly as I would have liked, so I was grateful for praise last night. It's really easy for me to get in a negative spiral when I had the perfect sermon in my head (and on paper--see this blog post for an idea of what I thought the sermon would be). It's good to remember that even an imperfect sermon (and they're all imperfect) can be powerful.
--And today, it's time to get some food in the house. Let me head off to get this done early, before the crowds arrive.
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