Leaving The Lucas House In Two Weeks

I just got word from the Blackwells, the owners of the Lucas House, where I have been ensconced the last 18 months that the house has now been sold and I need to evacuate the premises in the next 2 weeks. Although it came as no surprise, the news was nevertheless shocking.

Evidently, the buyers are wanting to start some basic renovations like replacing the wiring and the plumbing. So, I have arranged a room at the Mike Horner House about 1 mile due east of where I live now.

Mike and I have been involved in a couple of Bible studies together one of which we conduct at the Frothy Cup Coffee Shop, the other at the United Church Adult Sunday School. He has been extremely helpful in my ministry and now has committed Sunday nights to my new church, Calvary Idaho Springs Campus.

Mike and his wife, June, were also instrumental in organizing the weekly spaghetti suppers at the Clear Creek Neighborhood Church on Thursday nights. Mike is a retired industrial arts teacher who taught many years in the Clear Creek School District.

They have recently become grandparents for the first time. Now, they have invited me to occupy their spare bedroom on the second floor. Their home is even more historic than the Lucas house as it once formed part of an old hotel that was originally located on Colorado Blvd next to where the Catholic Church is now located.

President US Grant visited Idaho Springs back in the mid 1880s and stayed in that hotel. Later, the building was cut into 2 halves and Mike and June own one of those halves. It was moved circa 1910 to its present location up on a bluff a few blocks north on 19th Avenue.

Although I am looking forward to starting a new chapter here in Idaho Springs, Colorado I am at the same time wistful about the prospect of leaving such a noble if somewhat shabby house that would later become my home.

My first night at the Lucas House was January 28, 2015 and it was around 25 degrees inside portending a long and unbearably uncomfortable residency. Since I had no water I was forced to run the half mile down Colorado Blvd to the 24 hr "Kum And Go" convenience store when nature called...even if it was 2am.

The furnace, manufactured sometime in the first half of the 20th century, evidently had given up the ghost, and to add insult to injury, there was no water, but, at least there was electricity... in some of the rooms.

That first night I set up my tipi tent in the side foyer facing Ninth Avenue. The door to the side foyer was the only functioning one. With my tent opening facing this door it offered me a quick escape should the old firetrap go up in flames at 3:00 am.

Along the way I have endured nights of frightful sounds such as objects falling yet not finding anything that had fallen and the sound of muffled voices echoing from downstairs during certain late nights.

Then there was Cody, my roommate last year, who saw an old man one night sitting atop the dresser in his room staring him while laying in his bed. Then, there was Tony, the homeless guy who on a visit to the house told me he too saw an old man this time dressed up in a brown suit and red tie staring out the southwest corner bedroom on the second floor, which happens to be the bedroom I now occupy.

Bonnie, who stayed in the house for a bit also experienced a couple of bizarre happenings. But, I cannot say I saw anything unusual.

Notwithstanding all this, I completely and thoroughly enjoyed my long stay in the once glorious 1872 Manse.

I will miss the privacy and the independence I enjoyed here where I wrote most of my newspaper and blog articles in the smallish sitting room situated between the southwest corner bedroom and the north bedroom all the while puffing on either my pipe or a cigar.

I cooked many a dinner here on the old stove for myself and friends.  I immensely enjoyed my afternoon teas while eagerly devouring a new book from the library. And, I will always remember the lively Friday evening group discussions right here in this sitting room where at present I am penning this article.

But, as they say, all good things must end.

I will not, however, miss the constant drudgery of shuffling the half mile to the United Church and a half mile back to get 3-6 gallons of water and cart it back to the house. The reader should be reminded that a gallon of water weighs 8 pounds.

I won't miss not having showers or baths or hot water. You see, back in early January the water meter froze and cracked so the water has been shut off ever since. And, the hot water heater has never worked.

Recently, Mike Horner has been helping me fill up 60 1 gallon jugs from his faucet and hauling them in his Ford Ranger pickup. But, that will all end in 2 weeks when I move into his home.

Mike's home is more conveniently located closer to downtown and the Safeway grocery store. So, that means less walking for me. Now, I routinely walk anywhere from 2 to 5 miles everyday just going downtown and to Safeway.

This first chapter living in Idaho Springs, Colorado has been a happy one thanks largely to Brian and Becky Blackwell for the use of their lovely house on the corner of Colorado and Ninth.

The Horner House will be much more comfortable and the company more delightful than that of the old time ghosties that dance and party away the long and lonely nights at the Lucas House. I sure hope they will accommodate the presence of the new buyers and vice versa.

You can see the green roof of the Lucas House in the first photo I took of the west side of Idaho Springs. The third pic is of the Horner House. The second pic is my favorite room in the Lucas House where I wrote most of my articles, read books, puffed on my pipe and cigars and generally just relaxed. Also held Friday discussion group here too. Will sorely miss this tiny room.

Well...until next time, grace and peace to you all. See you down on the sunnyside of the road!

BR Schoenbein
June 29, 2016- Wednesday

Jesus And His Relationships With People

What exactly do we know about Jesus's relationships with people? At this point I'm not interested in what the Apostle Paul or the other writers of the New Testament had to say. That'll come later in another article.

I'm interested in what Jesus said and what he did. You know the red letter words contained in some versions of the Bible.

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters...yes even their own life...such a person cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:26.

In the previous verse the writer notes that while a large crowd was following Jesus he stopped and turned to them. Then he tells them they must "hate" the members of their family, indeed, their very life, before they could be considered disciples of his.

Whoa! This is the same Jesus that commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves and even our enemies. Obviously, or maybe not so obviously, Christ does not contradict himself. So, in some way or another these statements are congruent.

In Matthew 10 the theme is the same as in Luke but the language is different. "Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me."

And, finally in the Hebrew Scriptures we read that "God loved Jacob but " hated" Esau. Malachi 1:3.

Now, we know instinctively and by reading the word of God that God loves everyone. Even Esau. Esau and his descendants were given land and blessings( Genesis 25) which although not as lucrative nor all encompassing as the inheritance received by Jacob tends to lend support to the proposition that God "preferred" Jacob to Esau for some reason that fits in God's decree or plan and not that God "hated" Esau.

Getting back to the story. "Hate" in that context simply means to prefer your family less than you prefer the Lord. Jesus seems to enjoy shocking people with his words. I sense a bit of frustration with these crowds that followed him on his from Gailee to Jerusalem. I think that's why Luke noted that he stopped and turned around. I get the sense that Jesus sees through the motivation of this rag tag crowd who probably are less committed to him and his way and more curious to see him perform miracles and get free bread. Who knows? It's the stopping and turning around that signals a tension between him and the crowd.

Jesus later in that same chapter in Luke talks about counting the cost of discipleship. He talks of a man who intent on building a tower committed to the project without estimating it's cost and found to his chagrin that he didn't have enough funds to complete it.

Reminds of me of the building Caterpillar attempted to put up in Morton across from the CAT plant on the northside of I-74. The steel structure or skeleton stayed up for quite some seemingly as a testimonial of the company's apparent failure to "count the cost."

The other example Jesus employed was the King who failed to "count the cost" of taking on a larger foreign army and thus was forced to negotiate a conditional surrender or terms of peace.

This crowd of onlookers and passers-by while following Jesus apparently were not calculating the cost they would have to incur. That cost comes in the form of a cross. Carrying a cross...daily. Giving up all their possessions which for some if not most disciples this meant giving up their homes, occupations and even families...if the Lord required it.

The cost would ultimately involve giving up their very life. Not just in martyrdom but something even more insidious: their secret desires, their ambitions, their agendas.

There is no room for conditions or compromises to be a true disciple. We can be followers of Jesus without great cost just as this crowd Jesus addressed here in Luke; but, we cannot be disciples without full allegiance and love for God. We must be prepared to give our all just as the widow gave up her last two "mites" or copper coins. And, just as the Pearl merchant sold all he had to buy the great pearl and the treasure finder who sold all he had to buy the field that contained the buried treasure we too must be prepared to give our all just as Jesus gave his all for us.

Geez! Now let's get back to the reason for this article! Let's look at how Jesus related to women.

Jesus's relationships with women were profoundly radical, scandalous and unique especially in the patriarchal culture of his day.

We read of several women who followed Jesus as he and the Twelve traveled town to town proclaiming the Kingdom of God. They were Susanna, Joanna and Mary Magdalene. I'm sure there were unnamed others as well.

These women contributed money and labor to provision Jesus and his entourage. But, it appears just as likely that they were more than just hanger-ons and donors. They were probably disciples or "learners" themselves.

Women were considered second class citizens. Their status forbade them from being witnesses in legal matters. They had no right or ability to divorce their husbands. Much like women in today's Islamic culture, Jewish women were not allowed to go out in public without a male member of the family. They were considered unclean ceremonially one week every month.

Women were definitely not to travel with men unless they were closely related. Otherwise, they would be considered prostitutes.

And yet, Jesus made a point of meeting women where they lived, where they worked...all in public arena.

Take the case of the Samaritan woman at the well. Here we find the Lord initiating a conversation with a lone woman who came to Jacob's well to draw water in the heat of the day.

As we all know, for Jesus to be speaking with a woman, alone and a Samaritan to boot this was tantamount to breaking the Law. Likewise, when Jesus allowed the woman at the dinner to anoint him with perfume and to wipe his feet with her tears and her long hair he broke traditional taboos left and right. It was a very sensuous scene to be sure. Jesus developed a bad reputation especially amongst the clerics.

And yet, he didn't care what they or anyone thought. All he knew was that these women represented one of the most oppressed groups or classes in that society and he was determined to identify with them in solidarity. And, he was equally determined to include women in a new alternate humanity, the "Church" equal in every way with men.

That's what Jesus did. He turned societal norms and mores upside down. He didn't just teach and lecture. He was a doer!

Nothing was too sacrosanct for Jesus! He said we should "hate" our families. We shouldn't trust in being members of our nation of origin. We should give up all our possessions. Luke 14:43. Women were equal to men in God's sight. The Temple and all it represented would be destroyed with not one stone left upon another. The Temple for Pete's sake! It didn't get anymore sacrilegious than that!

He pronounced woes against the rich saying it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to gain entrance into the Kingdom of God!

Jesus touched lepers when healing them. He used his spit to make clay in order to heal the eyes of a man blind from birth. He ate with IRS agents and prostitutes and unclean Romans. He raised the dead, cured the lame, rebuked demons, gave hearing to the deaf! As it said in Isaiah 53 he took upon himself our infirmities and disease.

That's how he related to people! And, we should go out and do likewise. So, let's get out of our comfort zones and out of our church buildings and go into the marketplace...into the world and turn it upside down bringing down the Kingdom of God...today!

In other news... today is the 40th anniversary of my conversion. It was June 23, 1976 when I committed to following The Christ. I was just 16 years old and a green horn to boot. Boy, I had a lot to learn the past 40 years to be sure!

My new endeavor, Calvary Idaho Springs Campus, is holding its second and final interest meeting this Sunday June 26, 2016 at 530pm at the Frothy Cup Coffee Shop. Hope to see all my Clear Creek County peeps there!

Well...grace and peace to y'all. See you on the sunnyside!

BR Schoenbein
June 23, 2016- Thursday

 

Father's Day- The Worst Day Of The Year For A Bad Father

It's Father's Day today they tell me. And, I dread this day above all other days.

The last time I had a father was June 30, 1967. So, later this month it will be almost two score and ten years...to use Lincoln's way of describing the passage of time...a half century ago since I last saw my dad.

It was a beautiful late spring evening that Dad decided for whatever reason to take a little car ride out into the country around Delavan, Illinois...and whoosh like that...in an instant, he was gone. In a car accident caused by a drunk driver.

But, that's neither here nor there except to note that the lack of a father in my youth must have created within me a deficit of some type or another. Oh sure, I had father figures to look up to like my uncles on my mother's side and two wonderful grandfathers and the father of my good friend, Scott Witzig. Bert Witzig to be exact. Incidentally, Bert passed away recently, so, I know this is a really poignant day for the Witzigs.

But...nothing...like nothing...beats having a father at home on a daily basis. Mother...she tried mightly to replace my dad and after all these years I have concluded that she did her level best to be both mother and father. It was a huge responsibility...one that I later failed at.

I was not a competent father to say the least. For various and nefarious reasons I was not there for my children. Ironic isn't it? Because I grew up without a father I should have known how bad it would be for my children to grow up without a father. Unlike my hapless father...I chose not to be in my children's life...because of my selfishness, ego and the like.

And, as bad as that was, after all of these years...I have learned to accept that part of me and my history. I no longer flagellate myself over the past but have decided to look forward. I cannot go back and change my choices. They are what they are. But, know this. The consequences of bad choices will follow us around like a snarling black dog until the day they lower us beneath the weeds.

And, I think we all know that. Karma, they call it in the Eastern culture. Reaping what you sow they call it in the Christian culture.

Fortunately, God in Heaven, is a Father who loves us without condition, without fail, without demands or even expectation.

Look how he is characterized in the Parable of The Prodigal Son. This one of a kind vignette should really be entitled "The Prodigal Father" as the father spares no expense in his indulgence when his wayward son comes back home muttering something about sinning against him and Heaven. The prodigal father doesn't even respond to the son's faked attempts to appear repentant. We see the boy earlier in this masterful story rehearsing the story he was going to present to his father in the hopes he could manipulate his father to obtain a job, if nothing else, on the family farm.

Instead, we find the father, waiting every day out at the end of his driveway craning his neck out hoping against hope for his son's return...and then one day he sees his boy coming down the road and runs up to him and when he meets up with him...he grabs him around the neck and kisses him. And...he gives him a ring. And...he presents him with a new pair of shoes...all of which signifies the boy's proper place in the family as an honored son. The father then calls for the fatted calf to be prepared for a full blown soiree to be held to celebrate the return of a lost son.

Note that the father never went searching for his lost boy. Not at all. Why? I don't claim to know... but, I think the father knew that his boy was heading for a train wreck but had to let him go out into the real world and learn the hard way how bad the boy's choice was to take his inheritance and squander it on wine and women.

Remember Esau? He too squandered his inheritance for a simple bowl of porridge. Yet, although he sought to change his situation...even in tears...he could not for the inheritance had been given over to Jacob.There was nothing Esau could do after that. That was under the Old Covenant. The lost son's story, however, takes place under the New Covenant. God is about compassion, love and forgiveness.

We too can always return to the Father from squandering our estranged life in exile where we live east of Eden...so to speak...by deciding to change. To repent. Deciding to come back home...setting our eyes to the west...to the Shechina Glory of the Father. He will take you back...no matter how profligate you were, no matter how bad your choices were...no matter what. Unconditionally, and without any merit on your part.

I know that my love doesn't usually look that. I tend to love conditionally. In other words I love you IF you love me. That is my failure as a human being. That is me "missing the mark" at becoming a true human being. That is my sin.

That is NOT the way God wants it to be. We are to love our neighbor... even our enemy...with unconditional love and compassion. Yikes! I don't know about the rest of you, but, I struggle daily with loving even the people I would naturally love...let alone my neighbor and let alone my enemy!

As the Apostle Paul once said, " I do the things I don't want to do and don't do the things that I want to do. Oh, wretched man that I am!" Amen to that brother! Paul wasn't perfect and neither are we. So, let's struggle today as best we can and give it to God...because our Father in Heaven knows best.

Happy Father's Day to y'all!

BR Schoenbein
June 19, 2016- Sunday

Good night Miss Jensen Wherever You Are

Salvation- What Is It? News Around Town

Are you "saved?" I've been asked this very question many times. I'm sure you have too.

Saved from what? That was my answer once when asked that question. "You know. "Are you going to heaven?" Wait now. So, it seems that the real question is this: "Are you going to heaven when it's your time to cash out?"

What does being "saved" really mean?

I was toying with the questioner as I knew what being saved meant...or at least I thought I did at the time. The condition or state of being saved meant that as I took a leap of faith and believed that Christ died for my sin my spirit or soul was now regenerated and thus upon death sometime in the future...long future I hoped, I would go to heaven and live there with him and all of the saints that had gone on before me.

Does that sound vaguely familiar to any of you? It should, as we have heard that coming from the pulpit of most evangelical churches since we were children.

My law school education had taught me to question just about everything no matter how sacrosanct including this concept of "salvation" as the Bible...both the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures conceive of it.

I discovered that belief in an afterlife in the "Old Testament" or Hebrew Scriptures was very undeveloped, in fact, almost non-existent until the you get to the last book written which was Daniel.

Don't get me wrong you can pull verses from the Old Testament that show that at least some Israelites believed in life after death. But, by and large, being "saved" for some kind of life after death was not widely believed in Old Testament days.

Most Hebrew Scriptures dealing with "salvation" speak of deliverance from earthly enemies of one sort or another or from death itself. There's no real developed concept of going to "Hell" or to "Heaven" upon death. "Sheol" or the grave was man's final destination. Read Psalms or Ecclesiastes and you'll pick up on that real quickly.

The English word "salvation" is closely related to the word salve which deals with healing. We put salve of some kind on our wounds or injuries to effect healing and to restore that part of our body back the way it was originally. That's the idea behind the word "salvation." Healing, restoration, renewal, re-creation.

The Apostle Paul talked about the "old man" the "flesh" as opposed to the Spirit or the "fruit of the Spirit." He talked about being "hidden" in Christ and "dead" to sin. He talked about the "renewing of the mind" and a new identity in Christ. "It is not I who lives but Christ who lives in me."

This "new creature" we have become, was created by the Holy Spirit and now we are "born again" or " born from above" or "born anew." We were all at one time separated or estranged from God because of our "fall." We all went our own way and became self concerned, self indulgent and self aware believing we are separate from others and from the world around us. We believed it was us against the rest of the world. That is or was our predicament. We were our own worst enemy. Thus, we need "saving" or deliverance from ourselves...from our own predicament as fallen human beings.

That's where God comes in. But, we have to respond to his salvation or to his deliverance. Where once we were blind, lame, deaf and dead we now see, walk, hear and are now a new "living" creature. We are "saved" in the here and now. It's not just for the next life. It's for now too!

We no longer fear death...or life for that matter. We realize that whatever befalls us works for our good eventually. We now re-orient our lives towards God. Our allegiance, our love has shifted from our families, our jobs, careers, our money, ourselves, our whatever back to God where it belongs. The ego becomes de-throned and the true self our real selves breaks through and reconnects to God. But, of course, this has to be a daily denial of our ego...and as we know only too well it's a constant struggle.

We run to God as the prodigal ran to his father. And, the loving father doesn't even want to hear our asking for forgiveness. Instead, he puts a ring on our finger and shoes on our feet and re-declares our sonship and throws a grand party for us. The parables of the lost coin and the lost sheep confirms this unconditional love God has for us, his children.

So, it's not about the afterlife which quite frankly is not at the center of Christ's teaching or the teaching of the Apostles. It's primarily about this life. Back 2000 years ago Christ proclaimed that the Kingdom of God is amongst us. The times are fulfilled. Our job as Christ followers is to not build the Kingdom so much as it to bring the Kingdom down from heaven to earth right here in our day to day lives. To extend the love of Christ to all especially our enemies. That's our purpose in this life.

If we are truly born anew then our primary focus in life is to collaborate with the Spirit to extend the benefits and the joy of the Kingdom to all we encounter. The Kingdom then becomes the alternative to the Human Kingdom that now dominates the earth with all of its demands and the brute force it uses to get its way. The world can be turned upside down by bringing the Kingdom down. But, no matter what, God will eventually bring the Kingdom in its fullness down on a new earth where we will spend eternity. That, in a nutshell is the "good news" proclaimed by the angels to the shepherds out in their fields the night Christ was born...and by Christ himself.

God becomes not number one but rather the center of our lives with everything else revolving around him. Then, we have our priorities right. Then, the people we encounter will ask us about our radical lifestyles and we'll have a ready answer.

Christians today, especially in our culture, focus too much time and energy on going to a certain place upon death...that is heaven. The afterlife is real. But, it should not be our focus. Heaven isn't our final destination. And, it wasn't the focus of Jesus or his followers.

So, the challenge for myself, especially, is to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to seek the Kingdom first and above all else. Then, I shall endeavor to bring the Kingdom down to those that are my "neighbors" and even hopefully to my enemies.

In news around town...

Last Sunday I joined the Anglicans for worship at their church across the street from the United Church. I went primarily to meet with the lady who owns the church property to inquire into the possibility of renting the sanctuary for our( Calvary Idaho Springs Campus Church)worship services on Sunday evenings at 630pm.

However, I was greatly surprised by the love and acceptance by this little group of about 8 women who worship there. The Anglican priest, Fr John Longcamp, from Dillon, officiated as is his custom on the second Sunday of each month. The church is simply too small for its own full time vicar.

Rev Longcamp greeted me heartily and advised me what my last name means in German. He evidently knows German. He and I discussed theology to see where we agreed and where we diverged. To our amazement we found more common ground than that which separates us.

The Fr then asked me to think about leading a prayer service for his tiny parish. I thought this was a very nice gesture on his part. I of course, would be happy to do so.

Condolences go out to Becky and Brian Blackwell on the death of Becky's 89 year old father, Ralph Reese. Becky's family is from Peoria and they are longtime Catholics from St Vincent De Paul Church out on University in Peoria.

Pastor Bill Robertson of the Clear Creek Neighborhood Church and his fellowship are now worshipping at the Rec Center downtown from 730pm to 9pm Thursday evenings. Their major push is to do outreach to the many seasonal workers like the rafters who flood our little hamlet of Idaho Springs every summer. We wish Pastor Bill and his church the best as they bring down the Kingdom right here in town.

Calvary Idaho Springs Campus Church is ramping up its ministry to the poor, the marginalized and the homeless here in Idaho Springs. This involves locating people who need our help, ascertaining the type of help they need and attempting to fill those needs. We will be working with the city government and with the folks on "Operation Aspen Leaf" set up by Clear Creek County Sheriff Albers to find solutions to the problem of homelessness here in Clear Creek County.

This Sunday evening, Fathers Day, Calvary Idaho Springs will not hold services. Instead, we will worship at Calvary Evergreen up on Floyd Hill at 1030am.

Pastor Craig and I are planning a second interest meeting the Sunday after Fathers Day at the Frothy Cup Coffee Shop again. We had around 15 people there for the first meeting.

A couple of days ago I had to commandeer Mike H's car to take Amy P to the ER at St Anthony's in Lakewood due to excruciating pain resulting from her TMJ a problem with her jaw joints. She received badly needed pain meds and was referred to a dentist to begin treatment and physical therapy. This is the second time we needed to take her to the ER! Poor kid! Thanks to Mike H for taking us to the hospital and then out to eat. Mike is salt of the earth. A good egg to be sure!

Glenda Watson has asked me and the indomitable Bruce Bell to plan and act in a "Murder Mystery" play at the Frothy Cup Coffee Shop this fall. Told her I would be busy with the town Melodrama again this fall but would be interested in the Frothy Cup Production too. Looks like a busy schedule memorizing lines this fall!

The other day as I was walking through the Safeway parking lot I saw a man sitting in a car with Illinois plates so I asked him where in Illinois is he from. He told me Peoria. I told him...me too! Well, actually Morton. I asked his name and he told me he is Sean Thomas. I said that sounds familiar. He then tells me that I might know his father, Howard Vincent Thomas, the well known criminal and personal injury lawyer from Peoria. I exclaimed that I had negotiated insurance claims with him back when I worked at State Farm in Peoria. He then asked my name. After I told him, he asked if I was related to Kirk Schoenbein. I remarked that he's my brother. Sean remembers his father having cases where Kirk was the prosecutor. I told him he's a Circuit Court Judge now. 

We both talked about it being such a small world and all. He then told me he has lived here in Idaho Springs for the last 8 years! But, he still has Illinois plates! Hahaha! There is a small contingent of former Peorians and Illinoisans here in Idaho Springs, Colorado.  

Well, I thinks that's it for now. Grace and Shalom to y'all as the days grow longer and the sun grills hotter. Ciao!

BR Schoenbein
June 17, 2016- Friday

     

An Ordinary Day In Colorado

It's morning and I'm high up in the Colorado mountains where the snow covered peaks are blanketed by a bleach blue sky that will gradually morph into a dark saffire sky later in the day. The Sun is bedazzling with its usual morning yellow hue.

This old forgotten mining town is just now beginning to wake up and Jake, the newspaper boy, who can be seen half walking, half jogging between the yards is bringing us the terrible news of the death of boxing legend, Cassius Clay. It is indeed a sad day in America.

As bad as that news is...the usual morning sounds of lawn mowers and zooming cars on Colorado Blvd is dominating the more tranquil melodies of the chickadees and the mourning doves.

The old spinster, Miss Periwinkle, who lives down on 12th is walking her little dog, Pepper, down Virginia Street which snakes up against the Canyon wall just behind the Lucas House. As is her custom, she is scolding Pepper for lunging uselessly at the squirrels negotiating the telephone wires like trapeez artists.

From my perch, high atop the Lucas Manse from the second floor kitchen window, I see Charlie Basco leaving in his old 1997 Ford 150 pickup headed as usual to Marion's Diner, a favorite  breakfast nook of the "Greatest Generation" out on the wonderfully tacky east side of town.

Paul, the town locksmith, appears to be running a bit late this morning as he is just now coming out of his garage while slamming the door and gathering up his tools and throwing them into his ancient dirty once white van for his customary morning trip into town.

After getting dressed, I put some ground coffee into my camp percolater basket and fill the percolator with water and then fire up the gas stove. While the coffee is brewing I grab the bacon out of the fridge and drop each strip onto a hot skillet. Next, I crack the eggs into the rendered bacon grease and scramble them into a yellowish white mosaic.

I put the eggs and bacon onto a plate and grab a cup of searing hot coffee mixed with half and half and put it all on an oversized platter and carry it into the tiney anteroom on the west side of the second floor where I have a view of the mountains and of Virginia and Spring Gulch Canyons.

After placing the platter onto the coffee table I walk over to the window and open it up allowing the cool spring air which is now laced with the fragrances of lilac and hydrangeas to permeate the usual morning stuffiness of the second floor.

After my morning breakfast ritual I delve into my devotion time using a combination of books and the Bible. I then meditate and pray on what I just read. During the meditation time I try to sit as still and quiet as I can to allow God to talk to me in my now concentrated but open consciousness.

It's after this time in the morning that I am now ready to walk the half mile down to the Frothy Cup Coffee Shop where I hold court in my office which consists of a square table with a painted border of bird like characters.

My table apparently has adopted two really bored looking chairs who appear as if they would be much happier outside on the sidewalk in the warm sun. But, here there are resigned to their fate inside with me.

And, here I sit awaiting the morning coffee crowd which shuffles in across the well weathered wood plank floor on their way to the coffee bar to order their favorite wake up medicine.

Invariably, the locals come up to my table to greet me asking how my morning is developing. Some will plop down enlightening me with their troubles and daily problems. I listen quietly but hold off proffering advice unless asked.

Inevitably, I meet up with Amy P at the Frothy Cup. Her work schedule at the pizza joint keeps her hopping 4 to 5 days a week. On her days off we go hiking, hang out at McDonald's or congregate at the park along Clear Creek to watch the rafters go sailing atop the whitewater rapids. We have become fast friends.

Her conversations usually gravitate towards her boyfriend who lives "down the hill" in Denver. They don't get many opportunities to get together so she confides her laments to me. All I can do is listen and tell her to keep her chin up. Things have a way of working out I believe.

When dusk finally settles over the Canyon I start walking back to the Lucas House and once inside the now darkening manse I begin turning on the dim lights and trudge up the narrow and long steep staircase to my living quarters on the second floor.

I begin the necessary duty of preparing the supper meal. If it's Friday I get the house ready for my discussion group where we jump into controversial subjects like politics and the 2016 Presidential race. Or we discuss religious topics like reincarnation, what does "salvation" really mean. That kinda thing.

If it's Wednesday evening I walk on over to the Blackwells and break bread...or meatloaf with them and Jerry H. Then, afterwards, it's off to Wednesday night Bible study at First Baptist Church starring Duke University educated Pastor Dawit who incidentally is from Ethiopia. We are currently studying the Book of Revelation where I am unlearning it as a literal work and jumping into the allegorical and metaphorical dimensions. It's an amazing study thanks to Dawit.

Monday and Thursday I disciple both myself and Mike H who hungers for deep theological knowledge and is an apt student to be sure.

Sunday is spent attending Calvary Evergreen Church in the morning. Now, as the newly appointed Campus Pastor of Calvary Idaho Springs satellite Church I will be busy Sunday evenings as well helping with services at 6:30 pm at the Frothy Cup our current venue. We are also organizing different weekly ministries for all church attendees to participate.

So, Saturday is my day off, so to speak. I'll check out some DVDs from the library usually classics or documentaries especially histories featuring Ken Burns.

As Saturday night appears I'll kick off my shoes and watch my videos while sipping some Xingtea or Mandarin soda and smoking a cigar or one of my tobacco pipes. Then, I'll read a bit until my drowsy eyelids start getting heavy and I have to admit to myself that it's time to give in to the enivitable that the day is over. Then it's off to bedlam to await the dawn of a brand new day. A redo. A clean slate if you will. Another chance to make things right. A walk with God in the cool of a dewey morning where the fog lays down in the woods outside town. A time for contemplation and prayer where solitude reigns.

With that, I will see you on the sunnyside of the road up ahead. Maybe, we can grab a cup of coffee and talk of the things of life.

BR Schoenbein
June 4, 2016- Saturday