Too long would be an understatement for how neglectful I have been of ‘the blog’ of late. To say that I have been preoccupied would also be a gross understatement. The good news (or bad depending on how you see it) is this whole adventure of writing online started in lent three years ago as a part of my spiritual discipline and I intend on getting back into the swing of things now that Lent is upon us again.
Today is Shrove Tuesday. According to the great home of all knowledge Wikipedia, “The word shrove is the past tense of the English verb shrive, which means to obtain absolution for one’s sins by way of Confession and doing penance. Thus Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the shriving that English Christians were expected to do prior to receiving absolution immediately before Lent begins.”
So how are we all doing with that shriving we are expected to be doing today? I should hope that we can all attain absolution for our sins and our shortcomings. Perhaps today would be as good a day as any other to seek forgiveness from a friend, family member or co-worker that we have harmed. Actually, given the shriven nature of today maybe even the best day to do so! So let me start here. I would like to in this very public manner apologize for the very public faux pas that I made on Sunday. You see we were engaged in our Vestry meeting and sometimes those meetings can be long. I really needed to go to the bathroom, so when Amanda Dibbs was making her Warden’s report I made a break for it. Ahhhhhhh… sweet relief! It was like Niagara Falls in there. I was in a hurry and finished things up a quickly as I could and ran back to the Hall to get back to hearing Amanda’s report. I came back to gut splitting laughter. While we are accustomed to Amanda’s father, The Rev’d Canon Geoff Dibbs, having everyone in stitches, it is not customary for people to laugh so hard at Amanda. I rushed into the hall and asked the question, “What did I miss?” A reply came back, “It’s not what you missed! It is what we didn’t miss. YOU LEFT YOUR CORDLESS MICROPHONE ON!” Can you believe that? YIKES! I peed in front of 90 people. I am sure that somewhere, at some seminary in the year 2050 they will be teaching a class about technology and reminding the young clerics-to-be to be sure and be careful with cordless amplification. They will even have a name for it. I can hear the professor now, “Above all take extra care not to find yourself doing a ‘Revy Kevy.’ He was a peeing parson from the early part of this century who took little care with his cordless apparatus resulting in effusive sound in the church hall because of his other apparatus.” I shudder when I think how bad it could have been if I had to….nevermind. Will Rodgers once famously said, “There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.” I guess I am the later. Having now figuratively peed on the electric fence, I shall always be careful with that blasted cordless apparatus
What could I do on Sunday upon learning what I had done? There was only one option – laugh along! Embrace the moment. Point out what a dooofus I really am. Nonetheless, on this Shrove Tuesday I am forced to ask your forgiveness. If you were present for that very traumatic moment please forgive me. These terrible moments can sometimes lead to post traumatic stress. I pray that this is not the case here and I pray that hopefully you will be able to one day pee again without being reminded of that awful day when the parson peed in public – I hope that will be one day true for me as well.
Happy shriving – see you for Pancakes – tonight at the church between 4 and 7 PM (there will be no cordless microphones … so fret not!)
It's Just Kevin's Corner 
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