Well, today is quite the day of celebration,
and I have learned in my short time here that this community knows how to celebrate!

“Surely it is God who saves me;
         I will trust in God and not be afraid.”

Jesus went out to the mountain to pray,
and he spent the whole night in prayer with God.

The next day he came down the mountain and stood on a level place…

To see or not to see:
that is the question!

“Two men went up to the temple to pray,
one a Pharisee
and the other a tax collector….”

Early this past week I joined with other diocesan clergy at Lake Logan for our Fall clergy retreat.

Our speaker was Dr. Mark Jefferson, a preaching professor at Virginia Theological Seminary.

Exile
            and
joy…

It seems an unlikely pairing, but one that is pertinent to our lives today.

If it is of fear,
it is not of God.

In Paul’s letter to Timothy he says,
“There is great gain in godliness combined with contentment;
for we brought nothing into the world…
we can take nothing out of it;
if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.”

“Welcome to the party!” Jesus said to the crowd of outcasts who gathered to listen,
those whose names no one ever bothered to ask….

This past Wednesday a confluence of three events caught my attention.

When I opened up my email,
I saw a beautiful picture of a butterfly that Anna-Catherine had sent.

Martin Luther King Jr. said:

“Our goal is to create a beloved community…

this will require a qualitative change in our souls

as well as a quantitative change in our lives.”

According to the Gospel of Luke,

when Jesus was about 30 years old,

he began his work in this way…

In this morning’s gospel Jesus says,

            “I came to bring fire…

                        and division!”

Jesus said to his disciples,

            “Do not be afraid, little flock,

     for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

“Jesus was praying in a certain place,

and after he had finished,

one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray….’”