Summer slowdown, but we'll be back. And don't forget, When in Doubt, Sing is good summer reading!

Hallo all --

As you have seen, posts have been few and far between, at least for this chatty blogger. I'm glad +Maya Pavlova has kept you posted and admonished you all to take naps.

I am still several time zones away from home and having a combination of rest and writing, and need a lot of isolation and quiet, hence the lack of blogging. I will return.

Meanwhile, remember that When in Doubt, Sing: Prayer in Daily Life is a good book for summer spiritual reading. And yes, I do travel to give workshops, retreats, quiet days a.k.a. days of recollection, lectures, and other presentations based on the book. Also sermons or homilies and adult (and adolescent) forums. If your congregation or community group cannot afford speaker fees and travel expenses on its own, think "coalition funding" and "ecumenical coalition funding." Get together with several other congregations, parishes, or other groups and split the costs. You can contact me at widsauthor@earthlink.net.


The book is available at the usual online places, directly from the publisher, or at your local independent or chain bookstore. If you are able, support your local independent bookstore! Remember, any bookstore can order any book for you. Have them order five or ten copies of WIDS so they have some around for other folks. Here endeth the publicity announcement.

Blessings to you all. Please keep me in your prayers.

Feast of Mary of Magdala, Apostle

Same sermon as the last two years, different art. Happy feast!

Rest in peace, Uncle Walter

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Walter Cronkite, journalist, 1916-2009.

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Rest in peace. And thank you.

Obituary here.

Summer greetings from +Maya Pavlova

Beloved humans and other readers,

Greetings and purrs to you. My Jane, also known as the Canon to the Extraordinary, has asked me to post a little note to you since I am home and she is not.

The Canon has been on the road for nearly two weeks, or rather, she was on the road for a day and settled down for what she thought would be ten days in faraway land where the sun shines, the nights are cool, and the weather is not muggy. She is working on a Big Theological Tome and, I suspect, enjoying herself somehow amid the footnotes. I do not make footnotes, I sleep on Big Tomes and walk on the computer keys, but humans do strange things.

As it turns out, my Jane has prolonged her stay in the faraway land, and she may or may not blog. Sometimes I tune in on feline frequency and hear her groan "must... stay... away... from... intertubes..." Good luck to her. I hope she is remembering her naps. I hear she is eating well. What's this about enjoying fresh fish without me? And why does she like nectarines so much? I just sniff and play soccer when faced with something that looks like a peach or a plum.

I am well. A nice young man cat-sits and I roll over on my back for him and show him my furry tummy, and I keep him company while he reads. I like the hand that feeds me, though I will climb all over my human when she returns. I do remember her. I just enjoy the present.

Never, ever, my beloved, forget to nap. Most of you know this, but my one and only Pastoral Letter so far (there is no need for another) is On the Necessity of Naps. Read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest. Or as we say in the feline world, streeeeeeeeetch, yaaaaaaaaaaawwwnnn, puurrrrrrrrrr.

Love,

The Right Reverend and Right Honorable Maya Pavlova, F.B.E.*

* Feline Bishop Extraordinaire