Letters On The Page

  Kazuo Ishiguro. The Remains of the Day. Vintage International Edition, October 1993. This is my first encounter with Ishiguro. I did not see the 1993 movie with Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson. After reading the book, I do not want to see the movie because the book cures me of any desire to see a movie somehow altering the storyline and the mood. The book is a true masterpiece.  Mr. Stevens is a man who has already given most of his life as a butler in Lord Darlington’s Manor in England. Darlington is, as Stevens refers to him, a true gentleman. The house is now owned by an American who encourages Stevens to take some time off while he returns to America. Stevens reluctantly accepts the invitation. He “motors” through the country for several days with one of the owner’s cars to visit a former employee. Along the way, Stevens reflects on his admiration as well as bewilderment of Lord Darlington and his role in English history leading up to the second World War. Stevens also...

Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer   Wednesday after the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost                            July 16, 2025   Collect of the Day : O Lord, grant that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by Your governance that Your Church may joyfully serve You in all godly quietness; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.   The Epistle is from Romans, the eighth chapter.                                Romans 8:18-23 18  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.  19  Fo...

Rachel Syme with Illustrations from Joana Avillez.  Syme’s Letter Writer: A Guide to Modern Correspondence . Illustrations New York. Clarkson Potter/Publishers. 2024.     Syme is a dynamic writer. If this book held only her text, I would have been delighted to read and reference it for years to come. The illustrations by Avillez knock this book out of the park.  Every page has colorful illustrations that reinforce the main point of the text on that particular page. This book is not only one of the most helpful books on writing that I have read in a long time, but it is the most visually engaging book I have feasted upon in years. Syme’s goal with this book is to inspire and encourage adults to take up their pens and pads of paper again and starting writing letters to be delivered through the post office.  The Introduction to her book is an actual letter to the reader that is pulled out of an envelope. In that letter she explains how she came to start writin...

  Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer, IN Pentecost 5 (Proper 10C) Leviticus 18:1-5; 19:9-18     Colossians 1:1-14      Luke 10:25-37 O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.  Two questions that nearly every generation must address throughout human history are the questions “What should we believe?” and “How shall we live?” Most people answer these questions without much thought or concern. I dare say, that most of us throughout history, don’t even think conscientiously about these questions unless someone within our hearing brings them up and asks that all important question:  Why do you think this? The reason why we do not have to really think about these questions and provide an explicit answer is because the culture in which we live and move and have our being provides these answers. Culture forms us in ways that we do not realize unti...

Wednesday of the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost Collect of the Day : O God, the protector of all who trust in You, without whom nothing is strong and nothing is holy, multiply Your mercy on us that, with You as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.   The Epistle is from the First Letter of Peter, the fifth chapter.   ( 1 Peter 5:6-11) 6  Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,  7  casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.  8  Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9  Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brothe...

Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer, IN Fourth Sunday after Pentecost ( Proper 9C) Isaiah 66:10-14            Galatians 6:1-10, 14-18          Luke 10:1-20   O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.    Summertime is the season of vacations: school is out, the weather is pleasant. During this time, we often travel, sometimes to far away destinations. We go away on vacation for many reasons. Among them are joyful obligation to see friends and family and to have new experiences. Those of us who live in flat landlocked places benefit from the perspective of being out on the water far from land or from scanning the horizon atop a mountain. And, having a friendly snowball fight in July or August is certainly a unique and memorable experience. But, mostly, we are looking for some peace, a positive disruption of our ordin...

Video of Divine Service, St. Luke, Rensselaer July 2, 2025 - Wednesday of Pentecost 3   Collect of the Day : O Lord, since You never fail to help and govern those whom You nurture in Your steadfast fear and love, work in us a perpetual fear and love of Your holy name; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen. The Epistle is from First John, the third chapter.                    1 John 3:13-18 13  Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.  14  We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.  15  Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 16  By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought t...