As a part of winding down my time of serving St. Margaret of Scotland Episcopal Church in Moultrie, Georgia, I sent out a newsletter this week listing our remaining service times and activities together. I ended the newsletter by quoting Shakespeare: "Parting is such sweet sorrow." Then I went home and started packing books and trinkets that I have not been able to give up from one move to the next. As I packed I ran across William J. Bennett's "The Book of Virtues." I must confess that my copy is yellow with age and dusty with neglect. Somehow when I think of "virtues" my mind goes straight to the four "cardinal virtues" which are prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice. These are compared with "theological virtues" which are faith, hope, and charity. Maybe that's why I rarely touch "The Book of Virtues" unless I am packing.
In skimming this book once more, I ran across a poem by Edgar Guest, The Things That Haven't Been done Before. Intrigued, I read on. Here is the first verse:
The things that haven't been done before,
Those are the things to try;
Columbus dreamed of an unknown shore
At the rim of the far-flung sky,
And his heart was bold and his faith was strong
As he ventured in dangers new,
And he paid no heed to the jeering throng
Or the fears of the doubting crew.
That's all I had time for. It's too bad I couldn't linger and read the whole book. Packing is such sweet sorrow.
Pastor Linda
The Rev. Linda McCloud
Founding Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
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