January 8, 2004
Taking out the trash
Making the weekly trashcan run down our memorably steep driveway to the curb is one of the better things CP and I have done together. To avoid a fall, it requires balance, coordination, and timing — important hallmarks to enrich any domestic relationship.
As this is the second carnation for both of us, I can’t speak for her earlier years, but this sort of bliss was not always true for me.
During the first few months of my diaconate when I was inordinately [sic] proud of the clerical collar, I was a touch too self-conscious wearing it for outdoor household chores, like, of course, taking out the trash. It became a mild, but persisting annoyance and not without its own appropriate dialogue.
It was the practice in my diocese at that time for the bishop to entertain each newly ordained deacon and spouse with dinner and an overnight at the bishopric. [We never called it that, but just so you’ll know what I mean.] When it came our turn and as we drove up and parked out front, here comes the bishop, clericals and all, carrying out the trash.
If only our bishops still showed that kind of leadership.