Behind an able man, there are always.

The above title shows you the exact wording of the funny fortune inside John's cookie tonight. This beats my all-time favorite, which read, "Alas! The onion you are eating is someone else's water lily."

I returned through more sleet and snow from a two-day retreat with other priests in the diocese to find that John fell on the ice while walking the dog yesterday, and now has a sprained ankle.

On my way back from the retreat, I stopped in Iowa City for a luncheon at the home of the new president of the University of Iowa. She hosted twelve of us from the Association of Campus Ministers. Her chef prepared some lovely dishes and the conversation was exceptional.

After I unpacked, it was time to head to our home parish to accompany the Taize Eucharist for Advent. So afterwards, we decided that some Chinese takeout sounded good. But we're not so sure about that "able man." There are always...slippery sidewalks?

Truck Blessings

As a new campus minister, I'm spending about six hours each week on Interstate 80, where countless throngs of truck drivers pass by at alarming speeds. In the business section of our local paper, an article on truckers' chronic unhealthiness caught my eye, and that same day, more than one truck veered onto the shoulder and then back to the road. I decided that I could either growl and sigh at the truckers, or start blessing them. So, I'm now blessing trucks. It's like pet blessings in that your subjects don't keep still, sometimes are muddy, and can be very noisy.

This week I've blessed FedEx, U Haul, Office Max, Crocs (yes, the holy or holey shoes)and Allied trucks, plus trucks carrying horses and fire hydrants.