Pastor Jim’s Blog
A Dwelling Place
A Dwelling Place... Today's Missive by Laura Canby... Hard to believe that it was nearly 10 years ago since I traveled with a group of TLC pilgrims to the Holy Land. It was a trip that would enhance, illuminate and deepen my understanding of the Bible. Places were...
Two Bowls, One Quilt, One Baptism, Four Generations
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... On a beautiful Sunday morning in September, Blakely JoAnn Shelton, ten months old, was baptized in the courtyard at Trinity Lutheran Church. It was 8 a.m. on a Sunday, the sixth day of September. In times gone by the sanctuary would...
Reflections from Pastor Eric Ottum
Today's Word from Pastor Eric... I was pondering the parable of the Good Samaritan this morning, and I remember a presentation in my first year of work as a pastor made by a leader of the Salvation Army. It was eye-opening to me because he focused on the man in the...
Bone-Weary Tired
Today’s Word from Pastor Tom Kidd... Sometimes going to bed can qualify as grief work. I was bone-weary tired. It had taken the better part of a month but I was done… 67 steps, 3 landings with appointed benches, railings and post supports, stair jacks… all stained...
What’s Happening at Trinity – September 2020
Worship at TLC! It has been more than six months now since we began our online worship due to COVID-19. We have more people than ever before taking part in our worship services. It has been a joy to see our great Tech Team excel during this time. Thanks to Dream Team,...
“I’ll Fly Away”
Today's Word from Organist, Sheila Weidendorf... “Some bright morning, when this life is over I’ll fly away, To that home on God’s celestial shore, I’ll fly away.” I grew up in rural Minnesota, where summers are terribly hot and humid and winters are only for the...
Rally Day September 13th
A Note from Pastor Jim... Rally Day September 13th 2020 – Hee Haw! Get out your western gear! Please read carefully the following directions for our Rally Day Worship. We are making plans to welcome you joyfully and safely at 9:00 a.m. or 11:00 a.m. Online worship...
Changes
Today's Word from Laura Canby... To everything there is a season, and unto every purpose unto heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1 I watched as an industrious gray squirrel climbed the heights of a very tall Douglas Fir yesterday. He darted from branch to swaying branch,...
Whose Voice?
Today's Word from Pastor Tom Kidd... Matthew chapters 5-7 are known as the Sermon on the Mount. Nothing but red letters. That is, the only voice we hear is that of Jesus. Nothing but red letters, the most concentrated setting of teachings by Jesus in all of the...
A Season of Anxiety
A Season of Anxiety Today's Word from Pastor Jim... “And can any of you by worrying add even a single hour to your life span?” The words of Jesus in Matthew 6. The fall of the year always caused me more than a little anxiety. A new school year, a new school sometimes,...
“O God, Our Help in Ages Past”
Today's Word from Minister of Music, Karl Olsen... Michael S, a commenter on YouTube, gave a fleshed-out version of Psalm 90, a Psalm of Moses, about the Israelites wandering in the desert… “You have been our dwelling place A prayer of intercession The old man slowly...
Pandemic Stress
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... “Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. Bear with one another.” Colossians 3:12-13b The note was left for me at the front desk, we had no face to face interaction, not this time. In the past we had...
We Get Lots of Phone Calls in the Church Office
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... We get lots of phone calls in the church office, most of them involve prayer requests for family members or friends. The phone calls are screened by our capable volunteer receptionists at the front desk, and moved on to the appropriate...
Requiem for a Church in God’s Sacred History
Today’s Word from Pastor Tom... Forgive me if I have shared something of this story with you. The scene is vividly imprinted in my memory. We were standing in the parking lot of Faith Lutheran Church, Powell River, B.C. It was a beautiful coastal summer afternoon. I...
Sunday School and Youth Update
Today's Word from Deacon Amy... “Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to...
Music Matters at TLC
Today's Word from Minister of Music, Karl Olsen... African American singer and founder of the group Sweet Honey in the Rock, Bernice Johnson Reagon said: “The song is not a product. The song exists as a way to get to the singing. The singing exists to form the...
From the Preschool Hall
It’s been quite an interesting summer down the hall as we work to adjust to being primarily outdoors when the school year begins. We are excited about our new “nature trail and classroom,” and the covered areas going up on both playgrounds. Our focus for health and...
What’s Happening at Trinity – Fall 2020
Worship at TLC! It has been six months now since we began our online worship due to Covid-19. We have more people than ever before taking part in our worship services. It has been a joy to see our great Tech Team excel in this time. Thanks to Laura Canby, Deacon Amy,...
“The Peace of Wild Things”
Today's Word from Rev. Dave Bieniek... I am fond of Wendell Berry, and how he finds truth, beauty, and spiritual renewal in nature. I listened to him read his own poem, “The Peace of Wild Things,” today and realized that’s it. That is where I find my connection to...
Remembering Joe Pine
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... Joe Pine was born on the 23rd day of May 1930. He came to Trinity Lutheran Church late in his seventh decade of life. Joe was a part of our Sunday morning roundtable group that met at 7 a.m. for the 8 a.m. worship service. Spike,...
Who is Rescuing Who?
Today's Word from Pastor Tom Kidd... We are a dog family. We have two rescue dogs, Gucci 14 and Cleo is 6. It is typical of us to have an older dog and a younger dog. We have found it helpful to have an older citizen mentor a younger one in the ways of dogdom in the...
Comfort Food
Today's Word from Rev. David Bieniek... Breakfast was biscuits and gravy! Now the biscuits were simply out of the can from the refrigerator section, literally just like Mom used to make. But the biscuits were really only a vehicle for the real treat – the cream gravy!...
The Virus Came Home
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... It has been six months since we began this pandemic journey together. The grief, loss and loneliness of this season of disruption have been experienced in one degree or another by most everyone. We all have our pandemic stories of...
Pay Attention to the Details
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... I have flunked one class in my educational career, so far. I am convinced that I would have flunked a few more, but teachers tended to be full of grace and probably did not want to see me the next semester. I flunked Art History when I...
I Want It to Be Today When the Coronavirus Stops!
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... “By the rivers of Babylon—there we sat down and there we wept, when we remembered Zion.” Psalm 137:1 My grandson, Camden, is four years old. One eighth of his life has been lived in the midst of pandemic disruption. Quite suddenly...
It’s a Mystery Why We Follow
Today's Word from Pastor Tom Kidd... Understanding is the consequence of believing. The ways of the world teach us the opposite. Consequently, I have learned that if you cannot do ambiguity and paradox, your life of faith is left to two options: fundamentalism or...
A Rain of Blessings
Today's Word from Rev. David Bieniek... Last week’s gentle rains in August remind me that we live in the Pacific Northwest near a rainforest and that at any time during the year the rains might appear. I have always felt that rain is God’s way of cleansing the earth...
Eat Your Vegetables and Know Your Place
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... When I was a kid, I did not like vegetables. When I was a teenager, I had so much faith in God, or perhaps so little faith in God, that I felt like I needed to save the world, by myself. When I began my theological studies at Luther...
Eat Your Vegetables – Part II
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... I took the text out of context, in order to further my personal agenda, convincing my mother that eating Brussels sprouts was not a good idea. It is hard to imagine Christian people taking scripture out of context to further their...
Eat Your Vegetables
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... When I was a kid, we ate a Midwest diet. Chipped beef on toast was a favorite, white bread, white food, meat with every meal, and some of the nastiest vegetables that you have ever seen. I had lots of battles with my parents. I would...
Behind the Mask
Today's Word from Pastor Jim Written on Thursday, August 6... “God will direct you; you will be able to endure.” Exodus 18:23 I was at Payless last night. For the past 30 years I have made countless visits while shopping there. Right there in the frozen food section,...
Meteors and Majesty
Today's Word from Rev. David Bieniek... “Ah, Sovereign God, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for you.” – Jeremiah 32:17 For years I had tried to catch the Perseid meteor shower. It seemed that...
Madness Vs Sadness, Part Deux
Today's Word from Pastor Tom... I was pot banging cupboard slamming mad. It did not matter what Brenda said to me, I was steamed, and no one was going to deprive me of my “mad on.” The wind had been blowing. It was late; I had forgotten the depth finder, but with my...
Hold on to Hope
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... “Where can I go then from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I climb up to heaven, you are there; if I make the grave my bed, you are there also.” Psalm 139:7-8. The isolation of this pandemic has had a profoundly...
Robin Got a Scooter!
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... “Who satisfies you with good as long as you live, so that your youth is renewed like the Eagles.” Psalm 103:5 This familiar verse touched me in a new way this morning; perhaps it was because I was watching a video last night featuring...
The Kingdom of Heaven is Like…
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... From the mailbag, yes that’s right, people still send cards and letters in the mail. This morning, after recycling the junk mail, I opened 18 envelopes. The mail came from TLC members and community members. Most of them included a gift...
Our Frail Humanity is a Thing of Beauty
Today's Word from Pastor Jim...Every day I receive dozens, sometimes hundreds, of emails. More than half of them are junk: scams, mattress sales, or forwarded jokes. Those don't last very long in my mailbox. I read touching messages from you, telling me...
Madness Versus Sadness
Today's Word from Pastor Tom Kidd... Maybe you have had those moments when the words of scripture can be pretty disappointing? No? We tend to speak of how the scriptures are uplifting or inspiring or hope-evoking. I mean, that’s what we expect from the...
A Season in Our Lives
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... “Let us not grow weary in doing what is right,for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.”Galatians 6:9Speed was never my forte. Endurance was not my forte either. In fact, I think that I am still looking for my...
Grief & Ritual
Today’s Word from Rev. David Bieniek... I have been experiencing a lot of deaths lately. Not all of them have been friends or family members, and some I have only known of through the evening news, but at least 8 people’s deaths have affected me over the...
Thank You Felicia
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... It was 34 years ago yesterday that I walked down the aisle at First Lutheran Church in DeKalb, Illinois. Four years earlier, I waited at the end of that same aisle for my beautiful young bride to join me. Hand in hand, we...
People of Hope
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... “Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.” Ephesians 4:29 “A cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries...
Lead Us Not into Temptation
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... "Lead us not into temptation." Check that! The Pope changed the Lord's Prayer. It did say, "lead us not into temptation." Now the most revered prayer in Christendom says, "Do not let us fall into temptation." On this one Pope Francis...
Fire and Brimstone
Today's Word from Pastor Dennis... “Pastor Hanson, when I come to church will you preach fire and brimstone at me?” She asked with just enough of a hint that “yes” was what she expected to hear, which prompted me to say, “Yes. Of course. Fire and brimstone. You won’t...
Contemplating Sand and Stars
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... “Praise him, sun and moon, Praise him, all you shining stars.” Psalm 148:3 Go ahead and read all of Psalm 148. I will wait for you to return. Our family got away for a couple of days, to a beach home at Ocean Shores, loaned to us by a...
There Is No Other
Today's Word from Pastor Tom Kidd... I spent last week as the “manny.” Granddaughter Vivian and her family reside in McCall, Idaho. It is a wonderful community, situated on beautiful Payette Lake, at an elevation of 5,000 feet, in the Idaho wilderness. Vivian (named...
A Very Different VBS
Today's Word from Deacon Amy... Vacation Bible School is one of my favorite weeks every summer. I love the energy that comes with a building full of kids having fun and learning about Jesus. This year, as with many other things, VBS is very different....
A Mind-Boggling Disconnect
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... Yesterday, you invited me into your homes for worship. I am very appreciative; I don’t take this privilege for granted. Thank you! The sermon, in part, focused on the place of KINDNESS in our daily life and as we follow Jesus Christ....
Changing the Story
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... What would it take for you to change your story? Inherent in that question is the assumption that we are not powerless characters in someone else’s play. Inherent in that question is the belief that human stories are not likely to...
God’s Imagination
Today's Word from Rev. David Bieniek... On a recent morning I went down to our beach to do some work, but mostly just to take a few minutes alone. Our little dog went with me, anxious to explore the beach and see what he could find.We have some oyster...
Pandemic Musings
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... This from June 30th, 2020: “An unusually bright star has gone missing, a mystery of cosmic proportions.” I am not sure if you have been paying attention to the evening sky but if you gaze upon the Kinman dwarf galaxy, you...
God Is Still Working On Us
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you all are one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28I have been watching my share of nature videos on Facebook lately. Most...
Some Good News
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... The Christian Church gets a lot of bad press.That is partially because we deserve it, but it is mostly because bad news is what makes the news. Most churches, like most people, just go about their faithful work day after...
Wedding Plans
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... I met with a young couple this past week to plan their wedding. It is the wedding season, even though a strange one, thanks to that uninvited guest by the name of coronavirus. Planning the wedding itself is quite simple;...
A Gym Floor Metaphor
Today's Word from Pastor Jim...We moved into our new gym/fellowship hall and Sunday School wing on September 9th, 2001. It was two days before 9-11 and the sermon title that morning was, “The World will never look the same.” On that grand day of...
Finding Joy in this Season
Today's Word from Deacon Amy... Some of you know that my family has a small farm outside of Freeland. My daughters have both shown goats in 4H since they were in kindergarten. What started with two goats eight years ago, has turned into a herd of...
Quintessential 2020
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... It has been a big year for Skyler Stonebridge. A proud member of the South Whidbey Graduating Class of 2020, Skyler graduated in a Zoom ceremony. On July 5th he celebrated his 18th birthday with a virtual party. And on...
An Open-Minded Salvation
Today's Word from Pastor Tom Kidd... Okay, we need to get one thing straight right from the top – you should be very grateful that your salvation does not depend on me. I mean, just in case that had not heretofore dawned on you. To quote my mother, “You...
Mindfulness on a Rocky Seashore
Today's Word from Rev. David Bieniek... A while back I read "The Art of Power" by Thich Nhat Hanh, a book that a chaplain friend had given to me many years ago, encouraging me to find my own inner strength and allowing it to inform my ministry.The power...
Changing Plans
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money. Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring.” James 4:13My life tends to be...
Independence Day
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... “You knit me together in my mother’s womb.” Psalm 139:13The word “independence” did not appear in the text of the Declaration of Independence. Independence is mostly an illusion. No nation or individual is actually...
A Final Gift
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... “When we look to the wise, they die; fool and dolt perish together and leave their wealth to others.” Psalm 49:10I had a little contagion downtime early on Thursday morning. My sermon for Sunday was recorded and in the...
Getting on With Life
Today's Word from Pastor Tom Kidd... “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11In the midst of the Babylonian captivity, God speaks through the...
Fireworks and Grief
Today's Word from Rev. David Bieniek... When I was doing grief classes through my job as a hospice chaplain, I warned people who were working through their grief that one time when grief would strike would be during holidays. And I said that, of course,...
The Tale of Two Coffee Makers
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... The Church coffee maker quit functioning two weeks ago. Perhaps it did not feel safe working at church during Covid-19. Its health was compromised, its warranty had expired, its days were numbered. The real problem, I...
If Not Here, Then Where?
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... “We are to fear and love God, so that we do not tell lies about our neighbors, betray or slander them, or destroy their reputations. Instead, we are to come to their defense, speak well of them, and interpret everything...
Thank You
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... "I thank my God in every remembrance of you." Philippians 1:3I want to just pause and say, "thank you." I am quite sure that I don't say thank you nearly enough. We have been in this crisis for more than 100 days and you...
Juneuary
Today's Word from Rev. David Bieniek... Growing up in Texas, I had never heard of Juneuary. In fact, in Texas June seldom had anything in common with January. It was usually the first month that temperatures would hit greater than 100 degrees! Here in the...
It Could Be Worse
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... I had an Aunt who always used to say, “It could be worse.” It was a way of staying positive in the midst of circumstances that were not positive; perhaps even disruptive or painful. Look on the bright side. The house and...
Dinner Time
Today's Word from Pastor Tom Kidd... Maybe the most recognizable piece of Renaissance art is Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.” It is a fresco, a mural painting in the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy. I have not personally seen it. This...
The Evolving Word
Today’s Word from Pastor Dennis Hanson... Some of you may remember my friends Ole and Lena, Hittite family in the Midwest. The Pandemic has been hard for them, too. Along with the sad part of the epidemic, friends ill and some dying, no funerals and no...
Fog, Molasses, and a Bag of Bricks
Today's Word from Denise Wilson... Denise is a TLC member, and faculty at the University of WashingtonHere's a typical work day during the pandemic. These days amount to just about seven per week, since the apocalypse was declared and certain professions...
Is This Getting Old?
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... “I lift up my eyes to the hills, from where is my help to come?” Psalm 121I went out to start my little car earlier this week. It would not start because I had not driven it in several days. The two cars that I run around...
God’s Will
Today's Word from Philip Yancey... Has it really been two years since Janet and I joined you in worship at Trinity Lutheran? No one could have predicted the changes in all our lives since that time. Here's a reminder of where to put our trust, despite the...
The Moon and the March of Time
Today's Word from Rev. David Bieniek... The full moon this month (which happened back on June 5) had three different names that I found interesting. In Europe it was known as the Rose Moon, presumably the time when roses are blooming and could be...
Looking for the Red Letters
Today's Word from Pastor Tom Kidd... Strathmore, Alberta, November 1974... “Pastor, can you come over please, I need some help.” Two months into my first placement as a mission development pastor in this small prairie town, I received my first invitation...
A Note to Graduates
Today's Word from Karl Olsen, Minister of Music... "From small beginnings come great things." Proverbs These last few weeks have been filled with graduations, from preschool through college. Many days or years spent in pursuit of... a diploma? a cap and...
Life in Limbo
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... I have not really given you much attention. I probably have not looked at you since the first week of April, but you are still hanging there in my office. I glanced at you by accident this morning, and a wave of sadness...
Civil Disobedience
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... “Jesus, I have a request. Justice for others, mercy for me.”In the 1980’s I had a mentor and friend by the name of Jon Nelson. He was the pastor at Central Lutheran Church in Seattle. Jon was a character, rough around the...
Giving Thanks
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus.” I Corinthians 1:4Giving thanks is good, right, and healthy. If we pause to give thanks, then we are momentarily...
For Christ’s Sake!
Today's Word from Pastor Tom Kidd... Long before he became disgraced and appropriately incarcerated, Bill Cosby delighted millions of fans with his comedic routines about his life growing up. Now, it was never permissible to swear in my family (I remember...
Confronting a Personal History
Today's Word from Rev. David Bieniek... The events of the past few weeks have weighed heavy on my soul. I grew up in a single-mother, lower economic household in South Texas. Racism was all around me. And I hate to admit it, but it is embedded in my...
Notes From TLC
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... The Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is the Rev. Elizabeth Eaton. This past week, she provided a sermon that could be shared across the ELCA. Follow the links below and be blessed by the...
Comfort in Memes
Today’s Word from Deacon Amy... If you’ve spent any time on Facebook or Instagram, you probably know what a meme is. Memes have become a form of communication in our culture, especially popular among younger generations. Dictionary.com defines a meme as,...
What Can I Say?
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... Riots, protests, murder, racial tension, political turmoil, cities burning, and Covid-19 is put on the back burner for now. I am trying to think of what to say, that might be helpful. My tendency is not to speak unless I...
Moving On, Moving Out
Today's Word from Rev. David Bieniek... A few weeks ago, Pastor Jim asked us to pause his sermon and make a list of all the places we have ever lived. It was quite a task. I believe that I have lived in 38 places, in my 57 years. When you take into...
We Are Protestants
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... Lutherans are Protestants. We come out of the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther and others protested against the Church of the Holy Roman Empire. In the Dark Ages, the Roman Catholic Church was the only Church in...
The Valley of the Shadow of Death
Today's Word from Pastor Tom Kidd... I believe if I had a child or a grandchild of color, I would be fearful. As I write these words, as a white man of privilege, I am afraid. Afraid and growingly aware of how I have failed to appreciate the difference...
A Gift from God
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... Five weeks after his birth, I finally got the green light to visit my youngest daughter and to hold my little grandson, Brooks. What a joy to touch his tender skin, to hear his little baby sounds, to change his diaper and...
Lament and Celebration
Today's Word by Karl Olsen, TLC Minister of Music... For some reason, I was up at 4:00 Saturday morning. Heading outside to let my tea steep, it seemed a good time to count my blessings. A warm bed (now only half full), a healthy family, the beautiful...
Pentecost Musings
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... Tomorrow marks the great celebration of Pentecost. Though we have not yet received permission from our Bishop, we are going out on a limb and declaring this Sunday to be Pajama Sunday at TLC. This unprecedented display of...
Three Dogs, The Woods, and the Path of Peace – Part 2
Today's Word from Rev. David Bieniek... Last time I wrote, we were in the middle of a dog walk. The walk continues today…The dogs lead the way down the trail. The old dog seems to pull the hardest, always wanting to be the lead. The bigger, youngest dog...
Three Dogs, The Woods, and the Path of Peace, Part 1
Today's Word from Rev. David Bieniek... This was a blog I wrote my first month on Whidbey Island, back in July 2010. Sadly, two of the dogs have since passed on, but their lessons for me continue…I remember seeing a cartoon that showed a man talking to...
Going Forward
Today's Word from Pastor Tom Kidd... On Memorial Day, I went for a visit with Dad. Dad’s current address is Sunnyside Cemetery, Coupeville. It is a bit of a family joke, but we like to say Mom and Dad have a nice room with a view. Anyway, Dad’s headstone...
Protecting Jesus
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... “Then little children were being brought to Jesus in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them.” Matthew 19:13It was there in the beginning; I guess one might...
A Sermon From Our Bishop
Today's Word from Pastor Jim Trinity Lutheran Church is one of the 9,000 churches in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The ELCA is broken up into 65 regional bodies called synods. We are a part of the Northwest Washington Synod which stretches...
You Are Not Alone
Today's Word from Pastor Jim... “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” The words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount, found in the Gospel of Matthew, the fifth...
TLC Preschool Graduation
Today's Word from Felicia Lindus, TLC Preschool Director...Classes ended at Trinity Preschool on March 13 when we responded to the Governor’s mandate to close schools. Since that time, we have continued to support our students through emails, online...
The Stress Tank
Today's Word from Rev. David Bieniek... This reflection came to me in a dream the other night. I was visiting a friend who said she was in so much stress that she just needed a hug. Since I was not able to give her a hug, I walked her through this...
How is Life Preparing Us? And for What?
Today's Word from Pastor Tom Kidd... Sir was my German Shorthair Pointer. That was his name, Sir. Sir went to seminary with me (he was the only one who paid attention to me in preaching class); he rode with me in my summer job driving semi-truck around...