2ND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY 2016 YEAR C JOHN 2:1-11A few days ago I had a meeting with my spiritual director at 9am. I had about half an hour to spare, and so on my way, I called in at Sheetz to put some air in my tires as commanded to do by my dashboard. Apparently air contracts when it’s cold and other things I would know about if I had listened in my science classes at school. So, I topped up the tires, and still had a few minutes in hand to rush into Giant and pick up some groceries. Now this was a shopping expedition worthy of note. A grocery trip for the ages. The reason is not that I corralled some bargains or even that I managed to get in and out in under a quarter of an hour. No, what made these few minutes of hunting and gathering so special is that I noticed women smiling at me. Every aisle I pushed my cart down I’d pass a female shopper and she’d look me in the eyes and smile. And I’m thinking, “Looking good today, Dunc.” So, I’m smiling back, and swaggering a bit, you know how you do when you’re single. Eventually I reach the checkout, and then I’m off to my spiritual director. And we sit there for an hour talking about all the stuff that I wanted to address, and our time is up and I get up to leave, and she says, “Have you been working on your car this morning?” And I say, “Well, I put some air in my tires earlier, why?” And she says, “Well you’ve got this greasy mark on your forehead.” So I go to the restroom and look in the mirror, and this isn’t just a greasy mark. It is a smear right across my entire brow. It’s like Ash Wednesday on drugs. So, forget what gems of insight my spiritual director taught me, my lesson for the day is that if women smile atyou in the supermarket it’s because you have grease on your forehead.

We’re on this journey to Ash Wednesday....... (Read the full Sermon here: Wine or Whine )