A Thanksgiving Proclamation

Thinking about the Giving Tuesday movement, I think we have our days all mixed up.  Why save the giving until Tuesday?  Why not make Thanksgiving two days--Thursday is the Thank part and Friday, the Giving part.  Then Shop Local Saturday then the Monday internet shopping thingy then Black Tuesday!  Sunday is for church and then lunch supporting a local eating establishment.   That way the needy benefit from our first fruits and the Wal-fights will be drastically reduced as most of the riffraff will be back at work!  We save on gasoline and spend more $$$ supporting the local economy! ;)

Homage to Veterans 2013

As you prepare your morning coffee, or…
get ready to head out to work, or…
drop your children off at preschool,
I invite you, on this day of remembrance of our Veterans,
to take a moment of silence out of your day to ponder
what this day really means.

On this last entry of my series honoring Veterans,
I wish to pay homage to a few more American heroes
whom I have the privilege of knowing, some as my former
students, all now as friends.

I lost track of the number of times John Larrivee deployed to the sandbox. Seems like every time I turned around, I heard from someone that he was deploying again.

When John first sauntered into my classroom, he sat down in the back row, slumped in his chair. He was the ultimate cool kid with an attitude about any class whose syllabus mentioned reading and writing.

From the first time we spoke, however, I gathered that he had a military bend…and that after this final semester of school, he intended to plant his sneakers on the yellow footprints of Parris Island. The administration usually put studentss like John in my classroom knowing my heart for working with kids heading off to the military.

I knew how badly John wanted to be a Marine and I was quite skilled at knowing how to play that game of dangling the carrot of MCRD Parris Island in front of his nose to get him through English 12. Several times throughout the semester, I would gaze back at John and a haunting image would flood my imagination – images of him hunkered down, cigarette dangling out of his mouth, M16A2 perched on his shoulder, peering out of a second floor opening of an abandoned building the same color as the sand beneath. I believe in prevenient grace, and prayed that angels would go ahead of him to protect him.

Finally, Twinsburg High School graduation day came and John walked, having barely squeaked through English 12; yet, he aced Marine Recruit training, earning the globe, anchor, and eagle.

I heard from John not too long ago—he’s all grown up now, with considerable hearing loss and a few other wounds of war. He’s out of active duty but has found another way to serve in the civilian sector and is a wonderful father to two beautiful little girls.

Andrew Hejl and I used to rib each other in class because my classroom walls were plastered with Naval Academy and Marine Corps posters, but Andy had a dream of serving in the Army—always had. He wanted to keep up the Army legacy of his GrandDad, Dad and brother. Andy’s marvelous sense of humor came through in everything he wrote in class—a gift which would come in handy during his service in wartime. Andy served until his body said no more.

John Larrivee and Andrew Hejl, Kevin Siska, Brent Susnik, Jacob Fischer, Brett St. John, Clark Haymond, Ray Keffer, Tyler Glover, Logan Trombley, Ethan Trombley, Tim Nosco, Bethany Herschik, soon to be Kathryn Simecek, and so many others. All are my heroes—I love each and every one of you like my own child and can never thank you enough for your service! It was a privilege to be your teacher and an honor to be your friend!

God bless these guy and gals--characters all, but who ooze more character than anyone with the highest level of education, political power, or financial success!

Happy Birthday, My Dear Darling Daughter

Happy Birthday, 
Dear Darling Daughter                      10/25/2013

One score and six years ago today, 
my little blonde blue-eyed girly girl Katelyn 
came into the world!
She is beautiful 
     and smart and 
          thoughtful and 
     graceful and 
feels as comfortable in spike heels as in slippers
and has the voice of an angel 
which she uses with abandon when she vacuums the house,
and she has the work ethic of someone from the Greatest Generation 
and wears the middle name of Elizabeth like 
      the fine pearls draped elegantly around her neck
            given to her by her Godmother Elizabeth Donahue 
      whom she doesn't get to see
      often enough
And also named in part after her Grandmother Elizabeth Szerdy 
      whom she never met 
and who is called Katie Kadiddlehopper by her Uncle Bill 
      whom she made very proud when she 
      graduated from Army Basic training.
She used to be called Katie Sue by her Grandpappy 
but has always been KK to me
and is fiercely family-oriented 
      and patriotic 
           and really physically fit
and a natural born knitter and quilter 
and in that way and in her looks and her laugh and the way she 

embraces life with her whole being

is a clone of her Mama only better, 
      much much better...
and I am extremely proud of her 
and admire her and feel so blessed to call her 
my Daughter!

******************************************

Here, the poet uses a rhetorical device called polysyndeton, 
the repetitive use of the conjunction "and" as a 
liquid, literary way of stringing the images together like a strand of pearls, 
like the organic pouring forth of love out of the heart which runneth over,
like the energy which connects the chromosomes consecutively in the order of life.  

Copyright 2013 All rights reserved

Katherine Harris Szerdy

Demoting Mama

At five, my kids saw me as relevant.

As omnipotent, omniscient, clairvoyant

But since they got education

They’ve done a 180 rotation

And now they view me as irrelevant.

c 2013 by Katherine Harris Szerdy

Summer Synchronicity

It’s just begun today

Early spring’s promise

and I can wait patiently 

for the red blush of tomatoes

to dazzle the sun-bleached garden


as sunflowers stand sentinel




When the towering blooms stretch

higher than zucchini vines reach

along the garden fence.

In the corner the cherry tomatoes

remain true to their covenant to

pay us a visit each year

From hardy seeds resistant to

the chill of the Alberta clipper

and steel blades of the tiller

I can wait reverently, mindfully,

for warm rains to nurture

tangy succulence from the crimson fruit.

Nothing, oh nothing      

speaks summer like the fullness of

the harvest, unhurried, ready.

   

c 2013 by Katherine Harris Szerdy

6-Word Memoir, Revisited

WARNING:  This may be the most difficult piece of writing you have ever done!

First, view this You Tube Clip  

Today we are going to write our story—in autobiographical form.

The only requirement is that you use only 6 words—not 7, not 8, but exactly 6! 

Come on—you can do it!

As you have seen, there is no set pattern

                                               no established grammatical format

                                                             no required parts of speech or

                                                                               punctuation or literary device.

Some contain irony:

For sale:  Baby Shoes.  Never worn.

--Ernest Hemingway

Such as antithesis…

Bad reputation, such a good girl.

—Erin Oldroyd

Some do not form a complete sentence:

Bad brakes discovered at high speed.

--Johan Baumeister

Some do:

Ex-wife and contractor now have house.

--Drew Peck

Some describe one’s whole life:

Quietly cultivating my inner Linda Carter.

--Joanna Sheehan

Some don’t:

She kissed me and said yes!

--Ricardo Saramago

Some define their past:

My ancestors were accented cow herders.

--Nina Moog

Some define their vision for the future.

Fourteen years old, story still untold.

—David Gidwani

I’m ten, and have an attitude. 

--Tillie Seger

Some are dark:

Revenge is living well, without you.

--Joyce Carol Oates

Some exude hope:

Slightly psychotic, in a good way.

--Patricia Neelty

Some are humorous

I like big butts; can’t lie.

--Dave Russ

Some are humorous with a twist.

Liars.  Hysterectomy didn’t improve sex life.

--Joan Rivers

Never really finished anything, except cake.

--Carletta Perkins

Some are cryptic:

Anything’s possible with an extension cord.

--Billy Sirr

Not quite what I was planning…

--Summer Grimes

Some are clear as day:

Secret of life:  Marry an Italian.

--Nora Ephron

Just a rockin’ readin’ knittin’ kitten.

--Emmeline Friedman

Some are about our fears:

Mistakenly kills kitten.  Fears anything delicate.

--Susan Henderson

Some aren’t:

Danced in fields of infinite possibilities.

--Deepak Chopra

And all are hopelessly honest:

Never should have bought that ring.

--Paul Bellows

Not a good Christian, but trying.

--Alexander Tsai

Now it’s your turn.

First, let’s start brainstorming some ideas.

In order to get your wheels turning, try these exercises below:

Exercise 1:

Begin by jotting down 3 words that others use most often to describe you:

_______________________   ____________________    ____________________

Exercise 2:

Think back across the timeline of your life.  Name 3 events that come close to defining you.  Summarize each in a phrase:

1.   ____________________________________________________________

2.   ____________________________________________________________

3.   ____________________________________________________________

Exercise 3:

Circle the word in each row with which you most closely identify:

1.  Intuitive                      Analytical

2.  Optimistic                   Pessimistic

3.  Technology                People

4.  Fiction                        Non-fiction

5.  Saver                           Spender

Exercise 4:

     (1)  What is the one story about something that happened to you which you tell most often?

     (2)  What is the funniest thing that ever happened to you?

Exercise 5:  Identify the “Aha!”

From the above exercises, which one idea, descriptive word, story, or event resonates most?  Use that as the core of your 6-Word Memoir!

Wait!  Wait!  You’re not done---

PART 2:  Collage

Next, you are going to enhance your 6-Word Memoir with image.

Begin by searching through the magazines, photos, pamphlets, and clip out words and images and colors which, when carefully arranged, will serve to enhance your memoir.

OPTIONAL exercise for tomorrow or the next day or the next:

Make it thematic:  Write a 6-Word Memoir about Siblings or your Favorite Meal or your Holidays or, like Hemingway,  try writing a 6-Word Novel….the possibilities are endless!

***Examples above come from:

Not Quite What I was Planning:  Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure

Published by SMITH Magazine & Harper Perennial; New York:  2008

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEkAHATRuRU

Lesson Plan:  Copyright 2013, Katherine Harris Szerdy

EXODUS—Hearing God’s Call

The following is my first sermon--given on July 7, 2013, to First Church Congregational, Fairport Harbor, Ohio, delivered as part of a 3-fold message in tandem with my mentors, Rev. Richard Dunn and Pastor Tina Green

Scripture:  Exodus 2

By Katherine Harris Szerdy, Seminary Student

In Exodus 2:11, we read that an Egyptian killed one of Moses’ brethren—

we’re not certain if it were an actual relation or whether the word brethren refers to a fellow Hebrew. 

Moses slew the Egyptian attacker and “hid him in the sand.”

After news of the slaying reaches Pharoah’s ears, Moses flees, and chooses to cast his lot with his people---Heb. 11:25—

“choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.” 

He meets Jethro and his seven daughters, marries one of them, Zipporah,

and settles down into a life very different from the life of privilege he once knew,

a life amidst his people in the land of Midian. 

After 40 years, however, the life of the Israelites under the oppressive hand of the Egyptians had become unbearable. 

One day Moses sought new pastures for Jethro’s flocks at Horeb,

also known as the “Mountain of God.” 

And this is where the Great I Am chooses to get Moses’ attention. 

The God of the Hebrews was a master at messing with Mother Nature

to attract the attention of his chosen ones. 

Perhaps he tried calling him a few times—

MOSES!

Moses must have been really busy with those sheep. 

MOSES!

So God decides to use a little pyrotechnics-in-the-bush action to get Moses to stop and pay attention. 

Moses hesitates, hems and haws, tries every which way to excuse himself

from the call of all calls, but God won’t allow him. 

Was Moses’ hesitation evidence of a palpable fear of returning to face the consequences of slaying the Egyptian?  But the reader is not privy to his motives.

 “OK..so what was the name again?  Whom should I tell them sent me?”

“I am that I am.”   The God of all, the Creator of the heavens and the earth—not some puny little pagan god or goddess worshipped by surrounding cultures. 

The story of Moses’ call was a good example of the kind of call where God yanks us by the collar, plucks us from a comfortable place in our lives to a very difficult, challenging space outside of our comfort zone, where God most needs us.

Some of us, however, are called gradually…one step at a time.

I think I fit into the latter.

My parents used to take us to United Church of Christ church camps –

a week-long family church camp—

each summer at Temple Hills and Pilgrim Hills, Ohio, and Dunkirk, New York. 

When I was nine-years-old, ---that was a half-century ago, folks...do the math--

my Dad, Mom, sister Linda, and I 

went to Pilgrim Hills Church Camp about this time of year. 

I loved family church camp—

all the games, songs, Bible story time, crafts--remember making God's eyes

with yarn and popsicle sticks?--

family meals and hymn sings around the campfire. preparing

a little Bible musical to present to the parents at the end of the week. 

I loved it all. 

My favorite spot at Pilgrim Hills was a place called Vesper Hill. 

A  hand-hewn lifesize wooden cross dominated the small hill 

surrounded by meadow flowers and thistles.  

This humble space was sacred ground to me. 

One quiet rose-colored dusk after supper,

I slipped out of the screened-in dining room

And wandered over to Vesper Hill which was just a few

minutes walk down a dirt path.

I spent some time meditating on what I had learned that week

About Jesus—

About how Jesus demonstrated the ultimate act of the greatest love

on a cross on the hill at Golgotha.

I remember feeling so overwhelmed with gratitude for the sacrifice he made on a makeshift cross not unlike this one, that I knelt down and bowed my head.  It was right there in that moment, in the heart of a nine-year-old girl—me,  I felt a call upon my life and I responded with a whisper of dedication, soft in voice but mighty in heart, of my life to Him.  God didn’t speak to me through a burning bush, but it was no less real—like Wesley’s Aldersgate moment, I felt my heart strangely warmed and I knew my life had been changed forever.

The twinkle of the fireflies seemed extra bright and magical with the backdrop of a sky deepening into various shades of purples and fuschias.

If you have children or grandchildren, take them to family church camp! 

I highly recommend it!  PILGRIM HILLS CHURCH CAMP -- UCC

As God didn’t call me to instant ministry—

First I became a wife and then mother to three wonderful children 

Then I became a teacher—a calling in itself—for 20 years.

Then the first door opened—only a crack.  Asbury Theological Seminary, out of Wilmore, KY, and my number one choice of seminaries, built a satellite campus in my city at the time, Orlando.

Then before I could start my first semester, we were called to move home. 

Ten years later, I found myself spending a lot of time in hospitals and hospice caring for my parents.  That is when I heard the call to chaplaincy loud and clear.

And all of the necessary funding is now there, the only seminary to offer the program I need--is two blocks from my office...all the signs are there, aligned. 

God’s timing is impeccable and it’s now.

Does God call everyone? 

Yes, I believe he does call each one of us to follow Him, to dedicate our lives to a love greater than what we are capable of unless we know Him.  And I believe God calls us all the time—but are we always attentive?  Distractions keep us from hearing His call. 

As the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning so eloquently writes:

     Earth’s crammed with heaven,

          And every common bush afire with God;

     But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,

          The rest sit around it and pluck blackberries,

     And daub their natural faces unaware…