Loren Meade is an Episcopal priest and the former President and founder of the Alban Institute of Washington, DC … an educational and consulting organization focused of congregations. Fr. Meade was invited to speak to the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church when it was struggling with the issue of how to include … of not to include … gays and lesbians in the life and leadership of the Church. He started his remarks with, “The world is divided into two kinds of people: the kind of people who divide the world into two kinds of people, and those that don’t.”
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Today we read the scriptures for Epiphany. But, what IS an epiphany?
(1) : a usually sudden manifestation of the essential nature of something (2) : an intuitive grasp of reality through something simple and striking (3) : a revealing scene or moment Well, here’s a revealing scene… You DO know what would have happened if it had been three wise WOMEN instead of men, don't you? They would have asked for directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole, and brought disposable diapers as gifts! Happy New Year! I hope each and every one of you will know a year full of love, compassion, good health, joy … and many blessings. And my hope and dream is that this is true for the faith community of St. Cyprian’s, for our City of St. Augustine, for this state, the nation and for the world.
Several years my youngest brother Chad and his wife Amy … who live on the coast of North Carolina … came to visit us. Chad is ten years younger than I am … the youngest in our family of six surviving children. His passion is woodworking and he received Fine Arts degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and began his career designing and making furniture. Some of his work appeared in Fine Woodworking Magazine … a real accolade. But when the economy took a dip several decades ago he had to get a “Real Job” and took a position with the Hatteras Yacht Company in New Bern, North Carolina. Over the years he advanced at Hatteras and eventually became the one who designed all the custom interiors of their largest boats … some over 120 feet long. |
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October 2024
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