Fiction
Encrypted Nevertheless...
Based on an encrypted email from a friend…-or- …wholly fiction, as you wish…
Someone remarked quite rightly, that the young ladies who attend service with a lace head covering give the place a distinct Mennonite or Roman Catholic vibe.
Made me wonder: from whence comes the custom in certain denominations, of women covering their hair? Is it related to the burhka?
Those at coffee after service were a half dozen: the main service was sparsely attended, maybe less than twenty. Eric alone, with Jim assisting, celebrated.
I had met Kelso some time ago but recently. He seemed to be standing apart a little so we invited him to joint the political chatter. When Eric began his childrens’ hymns, three of us braved the chill on the outdoor porch to continue discussion.
Both Bob and I had wool jackets; Kelso wore just a shirt and tie.
Let me describe and introduce him.
About 5’9”, unkempt reddish hair of slightly longer than trimmed length. Thick lenses that seem to lift his eyes out from his face. Almost as engaged with Church politics as Bob but slightly more reserved. Law graduate from Minnesota who had shopped around for a congregation. Recent US Department of State hire working on Middle East conflict resolution.
Didn’t catch a surname; he is not in the Directory.
Interesting and intelligent discussion of gender among clergy and the ACNA vs RAC policies being hypocritical. (Yes to gay marriage but no to women celebrants). Kelso mentioned another congregational organization of three initials I had not heard before.
I am not much interested in the gay/trans issues of the Episcopal church so long as they don’t tell me personally what to think or criticize me because I don’t think such folks should be elected to assuage liberal guilt.
There is absolute clarity on how Scripture views “unnatural attractions and acts”. Sooner or later I should be able to quote verse and chapter which is a requirement to be taken seriously in such discussions. (But for the moment, Romans 1:26-27, from St. Paul, does just fine)...
Snowed a little Sunday morning, with rain most of the day. The word is Tuesday will bring a storm and more anxiety than warranted by the marginal amount of snow predicted.
* * *
Who knew David “Son of Sam” Berkowitz was still with us and in a Wallkill, NY, prison as recently as March 2023?
The intriguing thing (from the Jimmy Breslin biography by Richard Esposito/2025) is the way all the famous newspaper writers deem Berkowitz a pretty good writer.
Breslin: Son of Sam is the only one I ever knew who knows how to use the semicolon.
Breslin, to newsroom colleagues who have incited his ire: Son of Sam writes better than you...
Local NYPD Police Force-Daily News liaison: No one on the NYPD writes as well as Son of Sam Berkowitz.
Truth be told, I love the stereotype.
Stout, cigar-chomping, tough-talk New York tabloid writer, pugnacious whiskey-fond Irishman who bulls his way around and is not above intimidating witnesses for a sensational story: but come the deadline, writes like an angel.
Jimmy Breslin was one of a kind.
I can see why Norman Mailer liked him.