Sunrise on the Marsh

Last Post for this Blog

2008-03-27T06:29:00.001-07:00

A Church Planter is something of a different duck, so this is not a swan song, even though I will soon be leaving Honey Creek to plant a new, as yet unnamed, church in Montana. I plan to blog again although at this time I do not know what the blog will be named. I thank any and all of you who have followed this blog through its 427 or so postings.

And now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of His Son Jesus Christ. And the Blessing of Almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be upon you and remain with you both now and forever.

In peace,
Linda+
The Rev. Linda McCloud
Photo: goose at
The Monastery of the Holy Spirit
Conyers, Georgia
January 2008

Sometimes they strew his way

2008-03-17T06:00:00.001-07:00

Today is Saint Patrick's Day, and there will be parades if you want to attend one. But today is also Monday in Holy Week. Here is a portion of my sermon from yesterday:

Welcome to Holy Week. This morning we started our liturgy outside. We followed church tradition by blessing the palm branches. We read Matthew’s Gospel account of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. We read a portion of Psalm 118 and processed up to the altar with our palm branches. Our “parade” was pre-planned.

Have you ever been in a parade? Maybe you marched in the band or rode on a float. The parade in which you participated was probably well-organized. But when it was over, did you have a desolate feeling when you looked around at all the litter cluttering the streets? Did the streets seem lonely and different after the parade was over?

Jesus had planned his entry into Jerusalem, but the parade around him seemed spontaneous. It had all the flavor of a combination religious festival and crowning of a new king. The crowd was shouting “Hosanna” which means “save now.” Once again the crowd, perhaps unwittingly, was attempting to take Jesus by force and make him king. On previous occasions, such as the feeding of the five thousand, when the people attempted to take Jesus by force and make him king, he escaped and went off to the mountain to pray. But not this time. This time was different.

This time Jesus went straight into Jerusalem. His time had come. If the people had not shouted “Hosanna,” the rocks would have cried out. Jesus was indeed going to manifest himself as their king, but not in the way they expected. Jesus knew what he was going to do. He knew what he would do after the parade was over -- after the crowd had gone their separate ways. The people would get more than a king. They would get a savior, but once again he would not meet their expectations. For now, the crown he would get would be a crown of thorns. His throne would be the cross, and his royal robes would be a part of the mockery by his torturers.

According to Matthew’s Gospel, when the parade was over Jesus’ moments on earth were numbered. He entered the temple and upset the tables of the money changers, and drove out those who sold doves. They were taking up space in the Court of the Gentiles, and Jesus made room for God’s house to be a “House of Prayer for all peoples.” He cured the blind and the lame in the Temple. And that was just the First Day of the Week. This excitement would die down and by Friday some will have turned on Jesus and will be crying out for his crucifixion.

Jesus spent that night in Bethany, then Monday he was back in the temple, and the crowd was “spellbound by his teaching.” This upset some leaders to the point that they wanted to kill Jesus, but at this time “they feared the crowds.” Jesus and his disciples left the city unharmed.

Tuesday and Wednesday in Holy Week are the days about which we know very little. We could speculate that our Lord spent those days teaching, praying, and preparing his disciples for what was to come. It would be a tough week for all of them -- so much to teach and learn, so little time left. Meanwhile the enemies of Jesus were looking for a way to kill him secretly. They did not want to cause a political uproar for fear of losing their jobs. Imagine their delight when Judas, one of Jesus’ original twelve disciples, went straight to Jesus’ enemies and offered to betray Jesus into their hands.

Thursday is the day about which we know something very significant. It was on Thursday of Holy Week that Jesus gave the commandment that we should love one another as Jesus loves us. From the elements of bread and wine at the Passover meal, Jesus instituted what we call “Holy Eucharist,” “Holy Communion,” or “The Lord’s Last Supper.” He said, “This is my body . . . this is my blood.” “Love one another as I have loved you. Break this bread; drink this wine; do this in remembrance of me.” Every time we gather at this altar, we remember the Lord’s death until he comes again in power and great glory.

Jesus would get one last parade on earth. It would be on Good Friday. As the Roman Soldiers paraded Jesus down the Via Dolorosa to the Place of the Skull, another procession happened spontaneously. Some faithful followers would go with Jesus to Golgotha and a tomb in a nearby garden. Instead of riding triumphantly on a beast of burden, Jesus would be carrying his cross. We can join in this parade. This chapel will be available Friday. If you wish to come here from noon until three and pray, that would be a matter of your private devotion. Then at 6:15 that evening we will have a solemn service.

Jesus did not jump automatically from Palm Sunday to Easter, and neither should we. It is good for us to feel the full weight of the events of Holy Week. This will make our celebration of Easter all the more glorious. We can get into that last parade and follow Jesus to Calvary and the tomb. It’s a tough trip, and Jesus invites us to travel with him.

What did Jesus do after that last parade? We’ll save that sermon for next Sunday. But here’s a hint – it’s Good News!

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333
Photo: pilgrims in Israel, 2004

Palm Sunday

2008-03-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

We get extra readings today in church. We even get extra readings in the Daily Offices of Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer. Here is the Epistle reading for Morning Prayer, from the First Letter of Paul to Timothy:

Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will bring about at the right time -- he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

And again I say, Amen.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333

New Creation

2008-03-13T04:57:00.000-07:00

Spring is almost here, and this reminds us of God's faithfulness to renew the face of the earth. We believe that God renews and changes the world around us, but do we really believe God can renew and change us?

Here is what Louis Evely had to say about that:

Sinning against the Holy Spirit means no longer believing He can change the world because we no longer believe He can change us. The genuine atheist isn't the person who declares, "God doesn't exist," but the one who maintains that God can't remold him or her and denies the Spirit's infinite power to create, transform, and raise him [sic] from the dead.

This is the type of person who, whether sixty years old or just fifteen, goes around announcing, "At my age, I can't change any more: I'm too old, too weak, too far gone. I've tried everything, and it hasn't worked. No, there's nothing to be done for me!"

But with unflagging optimism, the Church sings each day, "Send us Your Spirit, and we shall be created, and You shall renew the face of the earth!" The most potent creative force is the Holy Spirit, whose might reanimates the dead, welds their parched bones together, clothes them with flesh, and gives them vigor and life. (That Man is You, 196)

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333

Still time for a Lenten retreat

2008-03-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

This week we are experiencing the last few days before Palm Sunday, which begins Holy Week. If you get right on it, there is still time for a Lenten retreat. Here is some good advice about retreats from Louis Evely, in That Man is You, translated by Edmond Bonin, 1964. This is a book that my mother gave me years ago, and goodness knows she could have used a retreat from her five children every now and again. Evely says:

As long as we're in a turmoil, taken up with our problems and our interests, we're safely sheltered from God and out of God's reach. We need several days of recollection before we can begin to live in God and on Him.

We have to stay there in a kind of stupor and let our motor idle till we've adjusted to a new tempo we've never experienced before. If we're too intent on our questions, we can't hear God's answers, which are surprising, disconcerting, and never come to us the way we expect.

To meet God, we have to get away from ourselves. Retreatants always stuff their suitcase with a pile of things: letters to be answered, a book, three or four chocolate bars, a newspaper . . . in case the whole business becomes intolerable.

We all feel the need of a few projects to shield us from God. We imagine God can't nourish us. What we must do, instead, is disencumber ourselves - even of major problems, even of vital ones.

God will discuss all that with us in God's own good time and in His own way. It's none of our business, but God's. It's God's worry far more than ours. We're all panting and puffing under a burden that's unbearable because we've taken it on ourselves without authorization. . . .

In peace,
Linda+
The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333
Photo: bucolic scene at
The Monastery of the Holy Spirit
Conyers, Georgia, January 2008

"Unbind him, and let him go."

2008-03-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

Our Gospel for tomorrow is John 11:1-45:

Lazarus was dead. It was a known fact. News of his death was not greatly exaggerated. People had come to Bethany from Jerusalem, a distance of about two miles, to console the grieving sisters, Mary and Martha. Jesus and his disciples had come upon the scene just as the mourning had gotten into high gear.

Mary and Martha had come through the stage of denial and now they were at the anger stage. "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." How could you, Jesus? I thought you loved Lazarus. Why did you not come running when I sent word that he was ill? You could have done something. Why?

But Jesus could still do something, and at great risk to himself. Jesus risked his life to reveal his divinity. Only God could bring someone back from the dead. Jesus used this opportunity to bring glory to God, but Jesus also wept. It's human nature to weep at the death of a beloved friend, but maybe, just maybe . . . Jesus wept because he was bringing someone back from paradise. Jesus would be going back there a few days hence. I wonder if the thought of that made him weep. I wonder if he missed the Paradise of God during his time on earth.

So Jesus called Lazarus back from the dead, but he left it up to the people who witnessed this miracle to "unbind him, and let him go." Are there people in our lives that we have locked into categories? Unbind them, and let them go. Give them a fresh go at life. It could be almost as good as Lazarus' second chance.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333
Photo: "The Palestine of Jesus" class
from St. George's College, Jerusalem
visits Lazarus' tomb in Bethany
August 2004

Fasting to remember the poor

2008-03-07T04:26:00.000-08:00

To fast is to deny oneself a certain good thing, because ultimately one desires to be filled, not by that food or drink, but by the Spirit of Christ. ...our sinfulness can corrupt our hearts and lead us not to love God, but rather to attend to created goods. Fasting is simply a way to discipline and remind the self that it can go astray, trusting more in the consumption of immediately available food and drink than in the promises of Christ.

The poor, however, mostly wrestle with a lack of food and drink, and so spiritually they are often called to heroic hope in the face of their sufferings. Their spiritual discipline is not fasting, per se, but, more immediately, hoping. As a full stomach can cloud over the reality of God's providence for the ungrateful wealthy, despair and depression can cloud the reality of God's presence with the poor. Food is not an accidental feature of our life; it is a necessity, and we have a right to it. Fasting from food may lead one to open a space for charity to the poor or to clear a place within one's self for welcoming God in prayer. (from Crossing the Desert: Lent and Conversion, 84)

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333

Maximus the Confessor

2008-03-05T06:00:00.000-08:00

A reading from a letter by Maximus the Confessor, Abbot (662) - from Readings for the Daily Office, J. Robert Wright, Week of 4 Lent; Wednesday, p. 154:

God's will is to save us, and nothing pleases him more than our coming back to him with true repentance. The heralds of truth and the ministers of divine grace have told us this from the beginning, repeating it in every age. Indeed, God's desire for our salvation is the primary and preeminent sign of his infinite goodness. It was precisely in order to show that there is nothing closer to God's heart than the divine Word of God the Father, with untold condescension, lived among us in the flesh, and did, suffered,and said all that was necessary to reconcile us to God the Father, when we were at enmity with him, and to restore us to the life of blessedness from which we had been exiled. He healed our physical infirmities by miracles; he freed us from our sins, many and grievous as they were, by suffering and dying, taking them upon himself as if he were answerable for them, sinless though he was. He also taught us in many different ways that we should wish to imitate him by our own kindness and genuine love for one another.

So it was that Christ proclaimed that he had come to call sinners to repentance, not the righteous, and that it was not the healthy who required a doctor, but the sick. He declared that he had come to look for the sheep that was lost, and that it was to the lost sheep of the house of Israel that he had been sent. Speaking more obscurely in the parable of the silver coin, he tells us that the purpose of his coming was to reclaim the royal image, which had become coated with the filth of sin. "You can be sure that there is joy in heaven," he said, "over one sinner who repents."

To give the same lesson he revived the man who, having fallen into the hands of brigands, had been left stripped and half-dead from his wounds; he poured wine and oil on the wounds, bandaged them, placed the man on his own mule and brought him to an inn, where he left sufficient money to have him cared for, and promised to repay any further expense on his return.

Again, he told of how that Father, who is goodness itself, was moved with pity for his profligate son who returned and made amends by repentance; how he embraced him, dressed him once more in the fine garments that befitted his own dignity, and did not reproach him for any of his sins.

So too, when he found wandering in the mountains and hills the one sheep that had strayed from God's flock of a hundred, he brought it back to the fold, but he did not exhaust it by driving it ahead of him. Instead, he placed it on his shoulders and so, compassionately, he restored it safely to the flock.

So also he cried out: "Come to me, all you that toil and are heavy of heart. Accept my yoke," he said, by which he meant his commands, or rather, the whole way of life that he taught us in the Gospel. He then speaks of a burden, but that is only because repentance seems difficult. In fact, however: "my yoke is easy," he assures us, "and my burden is light."

Then again he instructs us in divine justice and goodness, telling us to be like our heavenly Father, holy, perfect and merciful. "Forgive," he says: "and you will be forgiven. Behave toward other people as you would wish them to behave toward you." - Letter 11: PG 91, 454-455.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333
Photo: Maximus the cat, who needs
no repentance but highly recommends it
to humans

Fresh, life-giving sources

2008-03-04T06:00:00.000-08:00

Here's another good word from James Keating, from his book Crossing the Desert: Lent and Conversion, p. 83:

What we aim for in the disciplines of Lent is the purification of our desires, not their eradication. The warped desires that encompass the satisfaction of selfishness or the descent into self-hate remain the focus of Christ's purifying Spirit.

Desire is the seed of love, so it needs only to be watered from fresh, life-giving sources, not dammed up entirely. In the end, our purified desires are conveyances for union with what is good and holy, as we aim to be friends with Christ through grace. In this way, we come to love virtue together with Christ. It is this love that constitutes one of our deepest bonds with him. It is a bond cemented in prayer.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333
Photo: sunset reflecting on the sand
at Mexico Beach, Florida
December 2005

Every Bird in the Sky

2008-03-03T06:00:00.000-08:00

From Psalm 50:

The Lord, the God of gods, has spoken;
he has called the earth from the rising of the sun
to its setting.

Out of Zion, perfect in its beauty,
God reveals himself in glory. . . .

"I know every bird in the sky,
and the creatures of the fields are in my sight."

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333
Recent photos at Honey Creek:
Wood Storks on the wing; and
a flock of blackbirds being observed by a cormorant

Fishing

2008-02-29T06:00:00.000-08:00

I offer this poem for all of you who have ever fished for fish, or ever knew someone who did.

It is "Fishing" by Sarah Rossiter, reprinted from The Anglican Theological Review, Summer 2006, Volume 88, Number 3, page 419 (used by permission of the managing editor).

FISHING
Who can explain what holds me
at the river's edge: is it the scent
of water, or the sound of liquid slipping over stone,
the solitude,
or, then again, the line unfurling
back and forth through whispered air,
like breath, perhaps, or maybe prayer,
or the White Wulff, light as milkweed,
drifting, or that moment when
the salmon leaps, such silver shining,
fish, fly, sky, as if the river catches fire.

And so I wonder how it was that when
He met them by the sea, and all He said
was "Follow me," they turned, it seemed,
with no regret, leaving boats and nets
behind, as if He was the fish they sought,
as if their hearts burned even then.

Linda+
The Rev. Linda McCloud
Founding Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

We Still Pray Together

2008-02-28T06:00:00.000-08:00

Almost three years ago I graduated from "Sewanee" - The University of the South School of Theology at Sewanee, Tennessee, with thirty other people eager to be priests. In our three years at Sewanee, not only did we go to classes together every day, we spent a lot of time praying together. Every day at 8:10 a.m. we would gather in the Chapel of the Apostles for Morning Prayer. At noon there was a service of Holy Communion, and at 5:00 p.m. we met for Evening Prayer. Of course not everyone was there for every service, but if we had to be absent we knew that the prayers were being offered by those present.

Our group liked praying together so much that we formed a "Yahoo Group" to stay in touch. This lovely prayer appears on our computer screens every day:

Lord God, through holy scripture you have taught us that some plant and some water, but that only you grant increase and growth. Cultivate and nourish, we pray, all church planters, especially Linda McCloud and Frank Logue, that knowledge of your love, healing, and saving grace may grow without limit throughout the world. We pray your blessing especially upon the the Bishop, priests, deacons, and lay persons of the Diocese of Georgia that your will may be done through them for the Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek. In the Holy Name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.

We still pray together. It's the Episcopal way.

Linda+
The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333

George Herbert (1593-1633)

2008-02-27T04:56:00.000-08:00

Today is the feast day of George Herbert, best known for The Country Parson and The Temple. George turned away from a promising career as a Member of Parliament to become a country parson. He also wrote prose and poetry that has endured.

Here is a sample:

The Sun arising in the East,
Though he give light, and th' East perfume;
If they should offer to contest
With thy arising, they presume.

or this:

The Country Parson values Catechizing highly: for there being three points of his duty, the one, to infuse a competent knowledge of salvation in every one of his Flock; the other, to multiply, and build up this knowledge, to a spiritual Temple; the third, to inflame this knowledge, to press, and drive it to practice, turning it to reformation of life, by pithy and lively exhortations; Cathechizing is the first point, and but by Cathechizing, the other cannot be attained.

or this, my favorite of all George Herbert' writings (Hymn No. 387, The Hymnal 1982):

Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life;
such a way as gives us breath;
such a truth as ends all strife;
such a life as killeth death.

Come, my Light, my Feast, my Strength;
such a light as shows a feast;
such a feast as mends in length;
such a strength as makes his guest.

Come, my Joy, my Love, my Heart;
such a joy as none can move;
such a love as none can part;
such a heart as joys in love.

Here's a quiz: Which President of the United States was named after this man?

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Getting Ready for Easter

2008-02-26T03:19:00.000-08:00

Amidst all our preaching about keeping a holy Lent and getting ready for Easter, our Bishop calls his priests and deacons to a quiet day so that we can get together as clergy and ponder the events of Holy Week and Easter. In this way we can get ready inwardly in addition to getting ready outwardly.

This event happens every year and this year we will be hosted at Christ Church, Dublin by my seminary classmate, the Rev. Louis Miller. The part I like most about "Clergy Day of Preparation"? We are usually treated to sermons by the newest priests in the diocese, and it has been a few years since that was me.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Saint Matthias the Apostle

2008-02-25T06:00:00.000-08:00

Today is the feast day of Saint Matthias the Apostle. This year his day was moved from February 24 to February 25 because the 24th fell on a Sunday. All Sundays are feast days of our Lord Jesus Christ, and nothing trumps a feast of Jesus.

It seems almost more appropriate that we celebrate Matthias' feast today when few people are looking, because we know so little about Matthias. We know from the Acts of the Apostles that Matthias was chosen to replace Judas Iscariot, who had betrayed Jesus and who had died at his own hand.

The rules for choosing a replacement were simple: the person chosen had to have been traveling with Jesus and the other disciples from the beginnings of his ministry. Two such people were found among their number, and the remaining eleven Apostles and others in the meeting said their prayers and cast lots -- tossed a coin -- drew straws -- threw dice -- to take the decision out of their own hands and put it into the hands of God.

So for a few minutes Matthias stepped into the spotlight, but he stepped out of it just as easily. I wonder how he would feel about being remembered all these years.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Halfway there

2008-02-24T06:00:00.000-08:00

This is the Third Sunday in Lent, which means we are almost exactly halfway through this period which the church holds as a holy time of repentance and fasting. Just as a reminder, the Episcopal Church offers the private rite of The Reconciliation of a Penitent to anyone who wants to make an appointment with his or her priest. (See pages 446-452 of The Book of Common Prayer).

Here is what James Keating has to say about reconciliation:

"When we name our sins in truth, they are met with divine mercy. The result of this naming is not condemnation, but reconciliation and salvation.

"Perhaps we are so used to experiencing personal rejection when speaking the truth to others that we cannot trust that Christ will simply heal our sins in his grace and not use them against us. . . . He asks us to stop sinning, to stop living lives that obscure our dignity as the images of God that we are (Genesis 1:26). Instead, we are invited to cooperate with grace, to come to know God and so be morally transfigured."

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Churdch of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://ousaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333
Photo: Top half of church at
Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Monastery,
Conyers, GA, January 28, 2008

The Woman at the Well

2008-02-23T06:00:00.000-08:00

Our Gospel for tomorrow is John 4:5-42. This story is commonly known as that of "The Woman at the Well" and indeed the principal female character came to the well to draw water. But in his wonderful way of preaching and playing on words, the Evangelist John tells us that she left the well with living water that only Jesus gives.

The good news for this woman is that she decides on her own that Jesus is the Messiah. Then she takes it upon herself, almost unwittingly, to become the first Christian missionary. It is significant that she "left her water jar and went back to the city" to tell everyone that she had found the Messiah. And it is significant that this woman was a Samaritan, which means that during Jesus' life on earth it became clear that Jesus is the "Savior of the world."

My sermon for tomorrow is "Jesus had lunch with his Father." Come to our service at 10:00 a.m. and find out why.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

And God saw that it was good

2008-02-22T06:00:00.000-08:00

"And God said, 'Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.' And it was so. God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good . . . God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good." (Genesis 1:24-25, 31a)

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333
Photo: Left to right -- Barnabas and Maximus -

being good - very good - for a change

True Freedom

2008-02-21T06:00:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, . . . "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." (John 8:31-32)

"These words contain both a fundamental requirement and a warning: the requirement of an honest relationship with regard to truth as a condition for authentic freedom, and the warning to avoid every kind of illusory freedom...every freedom that fails to enter into the whole truth." (John Paul II, 1979)

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333
Photo: Seagull near Cumberland Island, Georgia
December 6, 2007

The Special Effects of Stained Glass

2008-02-20T06:00:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I made a pilgrimage to The Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia to visit the Retreat Director, who will soon celebrate his fiftieth anniversary of ordination to the Priesthood. This comes in the eightieth year of his life.

While waiting to meet with him at the retreat house, I walked around the grounds and took a few pictures. As you can see, it was a sunny day. The inside of the church always benefits from the sunlight flowing through the stained glass. The walls of the church appear to be painted blue and/or gold, but they are not. The colors are strictly the reflection from the stained glass, which is simple but beautiful.

A visit to the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers is worth a trip from anywhere, especially during this holy season of Lent.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Occasionally we use incense

2008-02-19T13:51:00.000-08:00

At Evening Prayer we often use this Opening Sentence: "Let my prayer be set forth in your sight as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice." (Psalm 141:2) I have often wondered, "If prayer is like incense, is incense like prayer?"

I like to use incense at Evening Prayer, Compline, and on special feast days of the Church, such as Christmas, Easter, and All Saints' Day. But if you want to see some amazing incense, check out this Youtube presentation of the use of incense at a service at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

If it makes you dizzy to watch the incense burner swing back and forth across the wide expanse of the church, just hang in there until the end when one of the priests(?) stops it from swinging. When I saw that I wanted to applaud, and lo and behold the people in the church began to applaud. It is amazing. Enjoy.

(cut and paste) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QFd_55El1I&NR=1

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Prayer - call and response

2008-02-18T06:00:00.000-08:00

Here is a prayer for today by E. Glenn Hinson:

Dear God, You give much, but You ask more.
You bring our world into being, but you ask that we be its caretakers.
You make us in Your image and likeness,
but you ask that we show the world we are your children.
You pour love into our hearts, but You ask that we love others.
You are our hope, but You ask that we awaken hope in others.

Sometimes we think it's too much.
"I know," God says, "Sometimes I think it's too much, too.
We both must live in hope.
I hope that one day this world will match my dream,
That you human beings will grow up into
the humanity of Jesus Christ,
That faith, hope, and love - these three - will reign in every heart.
That's why I sent my Son."

Dear God, let us be fellow sufferers and harbingers of hope in our world.
May we not be so overwhelmed by the dark we cannot see the light.
May others know hope through us.
May we with our hearts love you,
with our minds seek you,
with our whole selves serve you.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Congratulations to Genny and John Shymanik

2008-02-17T09:05:00.001-08:00

One of the joys of being a priest is the privilege to provide wedding ceremonies and to bless marriages. As I told Genny and John, I am only there to provide the ceremony. They have to marry each other. And that is what they did yesterday at high noon at the Honey Creek chapel.

O God, you have so consecrated the covenant of marriage that in it is represented the spiritual unity between Christ and his Church: Send therefore your blessing upon these your servants, that they may so love, honor, and cherish each other in faithfulness and patience, in wisdom and true godliness, that their home may be a haven of blessing and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. [The Book of Common Prayer, p. 431]

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Nicodemus and Jesus

2008-02-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

Our Gospel for tomorrow is so famous that one of its verses stands alone. In fact it stands out as a verse that many people know by heart, or at least they know where to find it. Remember when we used to see banners behind first base at the ball parks with this verse on it? Or at the fifty yard line at football games? The verse itself did not appear on those banners, but the book, chapter and verse were in giant print: John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

The next verse, John 3:17, carries equal weight but is often overlooked. So, in order to balance things out a bit, I offer a John 3:17:

Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Jesus gave these truths to Nicodemus, a seeker of truth who came to Jesus by night. He evidently made a special appointment with Jesus after the crowds had dispersed. For these truths Nicodemus returned the favor. He stood up for Jesus when the Sanhedrin had turned against Jesus, and he helped Joseph of Arimathea bury Jesus' lifeless body after they took it down from the cross. Nicodemus asked the right questions, and got the right answers.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

The Great Litany

2008-02-15T05:05:00.000-08:00

Recently I was asked to join the "Episcopal Church Social Network" at a website created by The Reverend Steve Rice, Rector, St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Waynesboro, Georgia. Steve invited me to spread the word and invite others to join at http://www.episcopalchurch.ning.com/ . In his usual cleverness with turns of phrases, Steve calls this "The Facebook of Common Prayer" or words to that effect. If you want to see what I might call the lighter side of the Episcopal Church, sign on and take a look.

One of the questions on the sign-up page is "What is your favorite page of the Prayer Book?" Quickly I wrote 355, which the opening page for The Holy Eucharist: Rite Two. I'm thinking I might go back occasionally and change that page number, depending on my thoughts for that day. Today, I might have chosen page 148, which begins The Great Litany, even though that prayer goes on through page 155. This prayer is rarely used, but I have been in wonderful worship services in which we marched round and round the inside of the church singing it.

The Great Litany is intercessory prayer at its best, dating back to the fifth century in Roman Christian tradition. Our earliest English publication of it dates to 1544, and we have retained much of that language in our present prayer book. The Great Litany covers all sorts and conditions of people and situations. The petitions are usually sung or said by a deacon or other leader, and the responses are said or sung by the congregation.

Here is a sampling appropriate to today:

That it may please thee to make wars to cease in all the world; to give to all nations unity, peace, and concord; and to bestow freedom upon all peoples,
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

That it may please thee to show pity upon all prisoners and captives, the homeless and the hungry, and all who are desolate and oppressed,
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

That it may please thee to inspire us, in our several callings, to do the work which thou givest us to do with singleness of heart as thy servants, and for the common good,
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

That it may please thee to preserve, and provide for, all women in childbirth, young children and orphans, the widowed, and all whose homes are broken or torn by strife,
We beseech thee to hear us, good Lord.

Look on page 154 of the Prayer Book for that portion called "The Supplication" which is used "especially in times of war, or of national anxiety, or of disaster." Today, we could pray the entire Great Litany.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Ordinary Moments

2008-02-14T06:00:00.000-08:00

More food for thought on our Lenten journey:

Lent promises to introduce us once again to God and God's great love for us in Christ. In and through that love, we come to know ourselves again and feel restored. When we have emerged from the desert of Lent, we can then bring this restored self in Christ back to the ordinariness of our days, pouring some of his living water on those who feel they are stumbling through an arid time.

Then, the ordinariness of family, work, and social commitments does not remain in the category of "more of the same." Rather, these ordinary moments take on a transcendent quality that reaches from a simple talk with a spouse on the back porch or a game of catch with the kids, to the grounding of those events inthe ever-present and saving love of Christ.

From such a consciousness, we will begin to truly thirst for moral goodness. No longer will moral living appear as simply an "ought." Moral conversion and living will become the desire of our hearts. - James Keating, Crossing the Desert: Lent and Conversion, 29.

Happy Valentine's Day!

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333
Photo: My adoption of "Thaddaeus"
from Suzie's Friends, Homerville, Georgia
Labor Day 2007

Cherish the days

2008-02-13T06:00:00.000-08:00

In his Lenten meditation book, The Desert of Ordinary Life, Jame Keating gives us these insights:

Through a rhythmic pattern of explicit worship and daily commitment to the meaning of sacramental living, we grow more deeply aware of God's merciful and life-changing presence in all things ordinary.

Lent becomes a time to cultivate our feeble sacramental imagination, as the opportunities for worship, prayer, meditation, service, and reconciliation increase over these forty days. In a real way, Lent beckons us to go into the sacramental and the ordinary folds of our lives in ways that enrich both; we begin to live out of them simultaneously and more deeply. Truly, as Saint Paul exclaimed, we carry the "marks of Christ" (Galatians 6:17) within us every single day of our lives.

This is true as a result of being given over to God in baptism, of being more richly conformed to Christ's self-offering on the cross through reconciliation and Eucharist, and in our particular vocations of commitment.

To receive again our call from Christ during Lent, and to let that call resonate throughout the daily affairs of secular life, is the true gift of Lent to us. . . Our daily lives carry an invitation from God to become morally good and holy; it is the only medium through which this invitation can come. Cherish the days.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Photo: grass and leaves
at The Gray Center, Canton, Mississippi
October 2007

Who are your heroes?

2008-02-12T06:00:00.000-08:00

Other than "heroes of the faith" as listed in the eleventh chapter of the Letter to the Hebrews, I can name my personal heroes on the fingers of one hand. Jesus does not count, as he falls into a totally separate category as the fully human, fully divine Second Person of the Holy Trinity.

My number one hero counted on the fingers of my hand is my dad, and running a close second is Abraham Lincoln, who was born on this date in 1809. In his own words:

I was born Feb. 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. My parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished families--second families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks.... My father ... removed from Kentucky to ... Indiana, in my eighth year.... It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. There I grew up.... Of course when I came of age I did not know much. Still somehow, I could read, write, and cipher ... but that was all."

If you go to Hodgenville, Kentucky you can visit the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln and see a log cabin which is said to be a reasonable facsimile of the one in which he was born. You can see the deep spring at the cave where the Lincolns drew their water, walk around the grounds and visit the small but lovely museum. It is a National Park and Admission is free.

Here is my favorite apocryphal story about Abraham Lincoln: After a long winter it was a fine spring day in 1809 and two farmers saw each other at the general store in Hodgenville. They hailed each other and asked what was new. In the course of the conversation one said, "Well, back in February Tom Lincoln's wife Nancy had a baby boy and they named him Abe. Nothing much ever happens in Hodgenville."

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Help for Lent from Brother Lawrence

2008-02-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

"My God, since You are with me, and since it is Your will that I should apply my mind to these outward things, I pray that You will give me the grace to remain with You and keep company with You.

But so that my work may be better, Lord, work with me; receive my work and possess all my affections."

-- Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God, published in 1691

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

A Stream of Limitless Meaning

2008-02-10T17:25:00.000-08:00

It seems that there is
a stream of limitless meaning
flowing into our lives
if we can but patiently entrust ourselves to it.

There is no hurry,
only the need to be true to
what comes to mind,
and to explore the current carefully
in which one presently moves.

There is a constant fluency of meaning
in the instant in which we live.
One may learn of it from rivers
in the constancy of their utterance,
if one listens and is still.

- Henry G. Bugbee, Jr.
The Inward Morning

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviohoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333
Photo: Honey Creek sunrise
November 2007

186th Convention

2008-02-07T14:49:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends -- I am in Augusta, Georgia for the 186th Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia. It is being held at the Church of the Good Shepherd on Walton Way, in the heart of Augusta. Our worship services and the ordination of Transitional Deacons will take place at Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church across the street. Three rows back on the left there is a Seal of the President of the United States and a plaque that says Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower worshiped in that church in that pew.

This place means much to me because it was here that three years ago, on February 5, 2005, I was one of those who were ordained Transitional Deacon. Six months later on August 5, 2005 I was ordained Priest. It's all good.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneyhcreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Ash Wednesday

2008-02-06T06:00:00.000-08:00

At the Episcopal Church of our Savior we will offer two Ash Wednesday services. The first will be at 7:00 a.m., and the other will be at our regularly scheduled Wednesday service time - 6:15 p.m.

Ash Wednesday gives us an opportunity to prepare to observe Holy Week and Easter. This could take some time, and the Church has set aside forty days in which to do that. Tomorrow I will say these words from The Book of Common Prayer:

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word. . . .

I will also invite you to receive the imposition of ashes on your forehead, at which time I will say those time-honored words: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Looking for the Living Water

2008-02-05T06:00:00.000-08:00

Today is "Fat Tuesday" -- Mardi Gras -- the last day to feast before the fast of Ash Wednesday. We are about to enter the "desert of Lent" as some would call it. But in the desert of Lent there are springs of living water and oases for those who would travel that way. Here is what David Rensberger says about it:

The great promise is that our thirst for God will be satisfied. Jesus, the endless source of Spirit flowing out like living water, calls the thirsty to come to him. It is when we hear his voice and turn toward it that our thirst begins to be quenched. And not our thirst only, for there is another promise in the gospel of John. For those who come to Jesus to drink, "The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life" (John 4:14).

The Spirit welling up within us is capable of overflowing into the thirsty world around us, so that our thirst for God's will, our thirst "to see right prevail" in that world, can find satisfaction as the world itself drinks in the love of God.

--from "Thirsty for God" -- Weavings, July/August 2000, 24.

To properly start off your Lenten Season, we will offer a 7:00 a.m. and a 6:15 p.m. service tomorrow, Ash Wednesday.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333
Photo: fountain at Sanctuary Cove

Epiphany Season

2008-02-04T05:33:00.000-08:00

Today is the feast day of Cornelius the Centurion (Commander of one hundred Roman soldiers). It is interesting that on the cusp of Lent we celebrate the feast of a Roman soldier who was converted to Christianity by Saint Peter. As we enter Lent, which begins on Wednesday, we will move toward Maundy Thursday and Good Friday when we hear of Saint Peter's denial of Jesus and Jesus' crucifixion which was carried out by Roman soldiers.

In these waning days of Epiphany Season, Cornelius is held out as a prime example of the love and forgiveness of God that reaches to the ends of the earth.

To read the story of Cornelius and his household, see Acts Chapters 10-11. You will read not only of the conversion of Cornelius, but also of a continuing conversion of Saint Peter as he begins to see that God's call of love is to everyone.

O God, by your Spirit you called Cornelius the Centurion to be the first Christian among the Gentiles: Grant to your Church such a ready will to go where you send and to do what you command, that under your guidance it may welcome all who turn to you in love and faith, and proclaim the Gospel to all nations; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

The Communion of Saints

2008-02-03T06:00:00.000-08:00

Every Sunday we stand and say the Nicene Creed, and in our daily prayers we say the Apostles' Creed. The two creeds are essentially alike. The Nicene Creed says "we believe" and the Apostles' Creed says "I believe." Both creeds mention "the communion of saints."

Here is a brief comment from late German theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar on this topic:

The Church is "the communion of saints" -- in German, "the communion of the holy." This expression signifies first those "holy things," including above all the Eucharist, around which the Church assembles for purposes of her salvation and catholic mission.

But precisely for that reason, the transition to "communion of holy persons" follows as an immediate consequence. And out of both, we have a glimpse into that unfathomable Mystery that, because Jesus "died for all," no one may any longer live and die for self alone (2 Cor 5:14f.); but that, in loving selflessness, as much of the good as anyone possesses belongs to all, which gives rise to an unending exchange and circulation of blood between all the members of the ecclesiastical Body of christ.

--Credo: Meditations on the Apostles' Creed, p. 85

Food for thought on this Lord's day.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Jesus' Mountaintop Experience

2008-02-01T19:22:00.000-08:00

Our Gospel for tomorrow is Matthew 17:1-9. Jesus has taken his closest disciples Peter, James and John up on a high mountain to pray, and suddenly Jesus looks very different. His clothes become dazzling white. The brightness is too much for them and the disciples fall on their faces in fear. Then they see Jesus speaking with Moses and Elijah, who represented the Law and the Prophets.

Then to top all that off, they hear God saying of Jesus, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" How wonderful and generous it was of Jesus to share this mountaintop experience with his disciples. They were going to need this to help carry them through some very tough valleys.

We celebrate this event of the Transfiguration twice in the church year -- the last Sunday after the Epiphany, and August 6 - the Feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus. This makes it doubly important for us to heed the words of God: Jesus is God's Son, the Beloved. We need to hear his words. Like the first disciples, this will help us through the tough valleys of our lives, too.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333

Humility

2008-02-01T06:00:00.000-08:00

Lent is on the way, beginning with Ash Wednesday on February 6. In Lent, many people give up something or take on something. I'll say more about that in a later blog entry, but now is the time to begin thinking about what that might be.

On Ash Wednesday we are told: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." If we really think about that, humility will set in. Here is a word of wisdom from Thomas Merton's Thoughts in Solitude:

Humility is a virtue, not a neurosis. It sets us free to act virtuously, to serve God and to know Him. Therefore true humility can never inhibit any really virtuous action, nor can it prevent us from fulfilling ourselves by doing the will of God.

Humility sets us free to do what is really good, by showing us our illusions and withdrawing our will from what was only an apparent good.

A humility that freezes our being and frustrates all healthy activity is not humility at all, but a disguised form of pride. It dries up the roots of the spiritual life and makes it impossible for us to give ourselves to God.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Water in the Desert

2008-01-31T06:00:00.000-08:00

There is still time to sign up for the pre-Lenten retreat Water in the Desert. It will be led by The Rev. Frank Logue, his wife Victoria, and me, and will be held at the conference center at Honey Creek.

The retreat begins tomorrow at 5:30 and goes until 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. If you wish to sign up or obtain more information, please call the church office at 912-267-0333 or e-mail me at lxxmccloud@yahoo.com .

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333
Photo: View from Mount Scopos
Jerusalem, August 2004

What St. Paul would have seen

2008-01-30T06:00:00.000-08:00

Here's a view St. Paul might have seen when he was imprisoned in Caesarea, just before he was sent off to Rome. When he saw this view there would have been a palace on the property that was sometimes occupied by King Herod.

Here's a snippet of Scripture from Acts 23:

Then [the tribune] summoned two of the centurions and said, "Get ready to leave by nine o'clock tonight for Caesarea with two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen. also provide mounts for Paul to ride, and take him safely to Felix he governor."

Read all about it in Acts chapter 23-28 .

In peace,
Linda+

the Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333
Photo: the ruins of Herod's palace
(his swimming pool by the Mediterranean)
August 2004 - Linda McCloud+

The Feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas

2008-01-28T06:00:00.000-08:00

St. Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225-1274) is considered to be the greatest theologian of the high Middle Ages. He wrote so many volumes that no one could begin to condense his writings in a single blog entry, but his Eucharistic theology is distilled in some hymns, one of which I especially like to sing during Holy Week:

Now, my tongue, the mystery telling
of the glorious Body sing,
and the Blood, all price excelling,
which the Gentiles' Lord and King,
once on earth among us dwelling,
shed for this world's ransoming.

Given for us, and condescending
to be born for us below,
he with us in converse blending
dwelt, the seed of truth to sow,
till he closed with wondrous ending
his most patient life of woe.

That last night at supper lying
mid the twelve, his chosen band,
Jesus with the law complying,
keeps the feast its rites demand;
then, more precious food supplying,
gives himself with his own hand.

Word made flesh, the bread he taketh,
by this word his Flesh to be;
wine his sacred Blood he maketh,
though the senses fail to see;
faith alone the true heart waketh
to behold the mystery.

Therefore we, before him bending,
this great Sacrament revere;
types and shadows have their ending,
for the newer rite is here;
faith, our outward sense befriending,
makes our inward vision clear.

Glory let us give and blessing
to the Father and the Son,
honor, thanks, and praise addressing,
while eternal ages run;
ever too his love confessing
who from both with both is One.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

The Lord is my light and my salvation

2008-01-27T06:00:00.000-08:00

Our Psalm for today at Holy Eucharist is
Psalm 27:1, 5-13:

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom then shall I fear?
the Lord is the strength of my life;
of whom then shall I be afraid?

One thing have I asked of the Lord;
one thing I seek;
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life;

To behold the fair beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple.

For in the day of trouble
he shall keep me safe in his shelter;
he shall hide me in the secrecy of his dwelling
and set me high upon a rock.

Even now he lifts up my head
above my enemies round about me.

Therefore I will offer in his dwelling
an oblation with sounds of great gladness;
I will sing and make music to the Lord.

Hearken to my voice, O Lord, when I call;
have mercy on me an answer me.

You speak in my heart and say,
"Seek my face."
Your face, Lord, will I seek.

Hide not your face from me,
nor turn away your servant in displeasure.

You have been my helper;
cast me not away;
do not forsake me,
O God of my salvation.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Photo by Linda McCloud+
Honey Creek at sunrise
December 20, 2007

Fishing for people

2008-01-26T10:57:00.000-08:00

Our Gospel lesson for tomorrow is Matthew 4:12-23 - that wonderful story of Jesus making his home in Capernaum by the sea, where he called two sets of brothers to follow him. They were fishermen by trade, so Jesus met them where they were and said, "Follow me, and I will make you fish to people."

Instantly, they got it. They understood enough about what Jesus was asking that they left their nets and followed him. What was it about Jesus that made them follow Jesus? Was it his voice, calling out their names? Once they heard Jesus called their names, they were never again the same. Jesus became the focus of their lives.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333

From Saul to Paul - Transformation

2008-01-25T06:00:00.000-08:00

The
Conversion
of
Saint
Paul

When I was Saul, and walked among the blazing rocks,
My road was quiet as a trap.
I feared what Word would split high noon with light;
And lock my sight, and drive me mad:

And thus I saw the Voice that struck me dead!

Tie up my life and wind me in my sheets of fear
And lay my reason in a three days' sepulchre,
'Till Jesus shows me Easter in a dream!

When I was Saul, and sat among the cloaks,
My eyes were stones. I saw no sight of heaven
Open to take the spirit of the twisting Stephen.
When I was Saul, and sat among the rocks,
I locked my eyes, my mind I made a tomb,
Sealed with what boulders rolled across my reason!

O Jesus, show me Easter in a dream!
O Cross Damascus, where poor Ananias in some other room,
(Who knows my locks, to let me out!)
Waits for Your word to take his keys, and come!

-- Fr. Louis (Thomas) Merton; written on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, January 25, 1942, at Gethsemani Abbey, Trappist, Kentucky. Published in Entering the Silence, p. 6.

In peace,
Linda+
The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

He should be in his own dictionary

2008-01-24T06:00:00.000-08:00

Don S. Armentrout, long-time professor of Church History and Dogmatic Theology at The University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, is editor with Robert Boak Slocum of a wonderful resource for Episcopalians or anyone who wants to know about Episcopalians. The book is An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church> a User-Friendly Reference for Episcopalians>.

There is only one missing entry. Don Armentrout is not in this dictionary, and he should be. The entry could be a photograph of him with the description: "Lutheran minister who prays for the Church."

578 pages. Church Publishing Incorporated, New York.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

The Fruit of the Spirit

2008-01-23T06:00:00.000-08:00

Typically people ask, Are there any clues to whether or not I am growing spiritually? Paul suggests there is one test, namely, growth in the fruit of the Spirit: "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23).

So often people erroneously read this text as if it says "fruits." It really describes a single fruit comprised of numerous characteristics. Our spiritual life is improving when all of these dimensions of a single fruit are present.

Indeed, to have one dimension of the fruit without the others turns that fruit into a distortion. For example, to have only patience and not the other characteristics can lead to the vice of complacence. But if patience is added to the others - love, joy, peace, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control - then patience becomes a virtue.

-- John Westerhoff, Spiritual Life, The Foundation for Preaching and teaching, 8-9

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333
Photo: Stained glass panel at
outdoor altar - The Duncan Gray Center
Canton, Mississippi

Out of fallen snow

2008-01-22T06:00:00.000-08:00

Beneath or inside the life we lead every day is another life. This unseen life runs like a river beneath the city, beneath work, family, ambition ...In the helter-skelter, in the rush to get an education, to make a career, to make a family, to find material success, to hurry, to do, to survive, this interior life is often subjugated or paved over...But [it] is unstoppable; it comes up in loveliness like jonquils out of fallen snow.

-- John Tarrant, The Light Inside the Dark, p.4

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333

The Church

2008-01-21T06:00:00.000-08:00

"In deep disappointment I have wept over the laxity of the church. But be assured that my tears have been tears of love. There can be no deep disappointment where there not deep love. Yes, I love the church. How could I do otherwise? I am in the rather unique position of being the son, the grandson, and the great-grandson of preachers. Yes, I see the church as the body of Christ . . ."

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
"Letter from the Birmingham Jail"
April 16, 1963.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

The breaking of the bread, and the prayers

2008-01-20T06:00:00.000-08:00

He was the Word that spake it;
He took the bread and brake it;
And what his word did make it,
That I believe and take it.

-- Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533-1603)

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Come and See, Go and Tell

2008-01-19T06:00:00.000-08:00

Our Gospel lesson for tomorrow is John 1:29-42:

The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him and declared, ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, “After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.’ And John testified, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.’

The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter).

Andrew the fisherman caught a very big fish the first time he went fishing for people. Peter gets most of the press after that, and to us Andrew's life becomes something of a blur.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333
Photo: blurry picture of the Old Market
in Jerusalem, August 2004

Good work if you can get it

2008-01-18T08:20:00.001-08:00

"Go out to your work in the world, the toils that custom has staled and long familiarity has belittled. But know that the beaten path of life skirts the kingdom of the miraculous and leads into the divine wonderland, if only we will hear afresh the call of Christ." -- Percy C. Ainsworth

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333

The desert was good for Anthony

2008-01-17T06:00:00.000-08:00

From The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, The Alphabetical Collection, page 1-2:

Anthony the Great, called 'The Father of Monks', was born in central Egypt about A.D. 251, the son of peasant farmers who were Christian. In c. 269 he heard the Gospel read in church and applied to himself the words: 'Go, sell all that you have and give to the poor and come . . . .'

He devoted himself to a life of asceticism under the guidance of a recluse near his village. In c. 285 he went alone into the desert to live in complete solitude. His reputation attracted followers, who settled near him, and in c. 305 he came out of his hermitage in order to act as their spiritual father.

Five years later he again retired into solitude. He visited Alexandria at least twice, once during the persecution of Christians and again to support the Bishop Athanasius against heresy.

He died at the age of one hundred and five. His life was written by Saint Athanasius and was very influential in spreading the ideals of monasticism throughout the Christian World.

"Saying" No. 2: When the same Abba Anthony thought about the depth of the judgements of God, he asked, 'Lord, how is it that some die when they are young, while others drag on to extreme old age? Why are there those who are poor and those who are rich? Why do wicked men prosper and why are the just in need?' He heard a voice answering him, 'Anthony, keep your attention on yourself; these things are according to the judgement of God, and it is not to your advantage to know anything about them.'

So, on this his feast day, we remember that Anthony lived to be a hundred and five. The desert was good for Anthony, and Anthony was good for the desert.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333

Making Choices

2008-01-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

"Every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing into a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war. . . . Each of us at each moment is progressing to the one state or the other." -- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Photo: Grave marker of author Eugenia Price

Christ Church, St. Simons Island, Georgia

The noise of your cataracts

2008-01-15T06:00:00.000-08:00

As the deer longs for the water-brooks,
so longs my soul for you, O God.

My soul is athirst for God, athirst for the living God;
when shall I come to appear before the presence of God? . . . .

My soul is heavy within me;
therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan,
and from the peak of Mizar among the heights of Hermon.

One deep calls to another in the noise of your cataracts;
all your rapids and floods have gone over me.

The Lord grants his loving-kindness in the daytime;
in the night season his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
(Psalm 42:1-2, 8-10)

Almighty God, in giving us dominion over things on earth, you made us fellow workers in your creation: Give us wisdom and reverence so to use the resources of nature, that no one may suffer from our abuse of them, and that generations yet to come may continue to praise you for your bounty; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (The Book of Common Prayer, 827)

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333
Photo: the headwaters of the Jordan River
Banias, Israel (at the foot of Mount Hermon)
August 2004. The rushing water is so loud that
you cannot hear what your neighbor is shouting
in your ear - LM+

Books in Heaven

2008-01-14T06:00:00.000-08:00

'YES,' MY FRIEND said. 'I don't see why there shouldn't be books in Heaven. But you will find that your library in Heaven contains only some of the books you had on earth.' 'Which?' I asked. 'The ones you gave away or lent.' 'I hope the lent ones won't still have all the borrowers' dirty thumb-marks,' said I. 'Oh yes they will,' said he. 'But just as the wounds of the martyrs will have turned into beauties, so you will find that the thumb-marks have turned into beautiful illuminated capitals or exquisite marginal woodcuts.'

--"Scraps" - The Collected Works of C.S. Lewis, 445.

My mother's definition of a rare book: one that has been borrowed and returned.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333
P.S. Happy Birthday to Brynda

Next Sunday

2008-01-13T06:00:00.000-08:00

Next Sunday, January 20, we will stay for a half hour after the morning worship service and discuss dreams and plans for the church.

There is possibility of involvement for everyone at The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek. There are committees on which to serve, parties to plan, worship services with which to assist - the list goes on. If each person took responsibility for only one item on the list, we would need at least 125 persons right now. So, please attend the worship service at 10:00 a.m. this morning, meet some nice people, and pick up a list of possibilities. This will give you a week to think about your involvement.

Need directions to the church? Please visit our website at http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/ and click on "directions" at the top of the page.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Founding Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

The turning point

2008-01-12T06:00:00.000-08:00

Our Gospel reading for tomorrow is Matthew 3:13-17:

Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented.

And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."

Holy Baptism is a visual symbol of death and resurrection - death to an old way of life and resurrection to the new. Christian baptism is initiation into the Church.

Baptism marked a turning point for Jesus. For Jesus, baptism was the beginning of his public life and ministry and he never looked back. His life was never again the same after his baptism, but he always knew he was God's beloved. All of that should hold true for all of us.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Holy Baptism

2008-01-11T03:18:00.000-08:00

Photo: Baptizing my great-niece Zoey outdoors near Seattle July 2007 (actually, hugging her after I baptized her)

"It's Friday, and Sunday's coming" as has been pointed out in one of my favorite classic sermons. On Sunday we will be taking a look at the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, and will be talking about how the Episcopal Church views baptism. The short answer is that we take Holy Baptism very seriously - so seriously, in fact, that we have "The Baptismal Covenant" and we take baptismal vows. It goes like this:

Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?
I will, with God's help.

Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
I will, with God's help.

Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?
I will, with God's help.

Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?
I will, with God's help.

Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?
I will, with God's help.

The adults in the above photo entered into this covenant on behalf of Zoey, promising also to be responsible for seeing that she is "brought up in the Christian faith and life." They also promised by their "prayers and witness to help this child to grow into the full stature of Christ."

Yes, baptism is serious business.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Thought Twisters

2008-01-10T06:00:00.000-08:00

Recently someone gave me a copy of the book Ever Wonder by Kobi Yamada. Here is some of that food for thought:

When was the last time you did something for the first time?

In order to find yourself, are you willing to lose yourself?

If you think life is hard, what are you comparing it to?

What do you pack to pursue a dream and what do you leave behind?

Are you the type of person with whom you would like to spend the rest of your life?

How would you introduce yourself to God?

If what's in your dreams wasn't already inside of you, how could you even dream it?

How do you want to be remembered?

If you had five minutes to live, who would you call and why are you waiting?

Have you discovered your mission in life?

Ever wonder?

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333
Photo: tree at Mepkin Abbey
Moncks Corner, SC January 2008

"Water in the Desert"

2008-01-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

It's time to sign up for the last "Journey to Wholeness" retreat at Honey Creek for the 2007-2008 season. This one will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, February 1 and end after Eucharist at approximately 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 2. Entitled "Water in the Desert", the focus will be on ways in which we can keep our spiritual lives vibrant during the dry times.

As with the two previous retreats, this one will be led by the Rev. Frank Logue and his wife, Victoria. Please see the recent announcement at http://kingofpeace.blogspot.com/ for more details, and/or call 912-265-9218 to sign up and reserve a room at Honey Creek. Come and get a long drink of water in preparation for the desert of Lent, which is coming up soon.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Radical Hospitality: Benedict's way of love

2008-01-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

Last week I spent a few days on retreat at Mepkin Abbey, whose monks are in the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (OCSO). When visiting such monasteries, I am struck by their generous hospitality that welcomes all sorts and conditions of people. Such Benedictine hospitality is a basic tenet of the oft-seen sign, "The Episcopal Church Welcomes You."

Here are a couple of paragraphs from a book I bought in the monastery gift shop:

Monasteries are increasingly making room for strangers, by planning their lives to allow room for guests. This hospitality is included in the Benedictine rule, but it is also the current reality of monasteries. People are knocking on the door. People of all faiths or no faith at all are drawn to something about monasticism. The challenge for Benedictines is to preserve their monastic distinction, their way of life, while continuing to welcome the stranger. It is similar to the challenge you face as you attempt to keep time for yourself and your closest relationships while developing an open attitude.

The walking dead stand at the gates of the monastery. If life doesn't kill your wonder, it will at least wound your spirit. The monastic way is sometimes called the path of life, and life is what we seek. People go to the monastery in search of life. Today, Benedictines are not physically saving lives by their tradition, but they do continue to save lives. The spirit of monastic hospitality gives us something healing and rejuvenating. So, while practically speaking, hospitality has changed since Benedict's day [c.480-c.550 A.D.], the lifesaving spirit of it has remained. -- Radical Hospitality: Benedict's Way of Love, Daniel Homan and Lonnie Collins Pratt

It is little wonder that Benedict of Nursia is sometimes referred to as "the father of Western civilization."

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333
Photo: Mepkin Abbey
Moncks Corner, SC
January 2008

"Life is this simple"

2008-01-07T06:00:00.000-08:00

"Life is this simple: We are living in a world that is absolutely transparent and God is shining through it all the time. This is not just a fable or a nice story. It is true. . . . You cannot be without God. It's impossible. It's simply impossible."

-- Thomas Merton, from a talk at Bellarmine College, Louisville, KY, 1965.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Photo: Garden gate at Mepkin Abbey

Moncks Corner, South Carolina

January 2008

There is a river

2008-01-06T06:00:00.000-08:00

A portion of our Psalm at Morning Prayer (Psalm 46:5-8):

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.

God is in the midst of her;
she shall not be overthrown;
God shall help her at the break of day.

The nations make much ado, and the kingdoms are shaken;
God has spoken, and the earth shall melt away.

The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333
Photos: January 2, 2008 -
river that runs by the property of
Mepkin Abbey, Moncks Corner, SC

How the wise got wiser

2008-01-05T06:00:00.000-08:00

Our Gospel for tomorrow is Matthew 2:1-12.

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.

They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'" Then Herod secretly called for the wise man and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage."

When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own county by another road.

How did the wise men get wiser? They sought Jesus, found Jesus, and worshiped Jesus.

After the wise men saw Jesus, and knew that the star had guided them to Jesus, they paid close attention to the dream in which they were warned. They wised up to the maneuverings of Herod the king and did not report back to him.

Shortly after the wise men left, Joseph was warned in a dream to flee, and he took Mary and Jesus to Egypt, where they stayed until after Herod's death.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333
Photos from Mepkin Abbey, Moncks Corner, SC January 2008

First: Three Wise Men - wood carving in Abbey church

Second: Jesus, Joseph and Mary - ceramic in outdoor alcove

Third: "Flight into Egypt" outdoor carving in Mepkin Gardens

Morning Prayer

2008-01-04T06:00:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, January 6 at 3:00 p.m. in the Chapel we will resume our "Episcopal Lessons" with a session entitled "Prayer - Public and Private". We will focus on how to use The Book of Common Prayer to pray the Daily Office of Morning Prayer.

Here is a portion of Psalm 85 (verses 7-13), which is one of the Psalms appointed for this morning:

Show us your mercy, O Lord,
and grant us your salvation.

I will listen to what the Lord God is saying,
for he is speaking peace to his faithful people
and to those who turn their hearts to him.

Truly, his salvation is very near to those who fear him,
that his glory may dwell in our land.

Mercy and truth have met together;
righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

Truth shall spring up from the earth,
and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

The Lord will indeed grant prosperity,
and our land will yield its increase.

Righteousness shall go before him,
and peace shall be a pathway for his feet.

Please join us for these lessons if you can. All are welcome.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Photo: sunrise at Honey Creek 12/20/07

My inmost calm

2008-01-03T06:00:00.000-08:00

My life flows on in endless song
Above life’s lamentation
I hear the real, though far-off hymn
That hails the new creation.

Above the tumult and the strife
I hear the music ringing;
It sounds an echo in my soul.
How can I keep from singing?

What though the tempest loudly roars,
I hear the Truth, it liveth.
What though the darkness round me close,
Songs in the night it giveth.

No storm can shake my inmost calm
While to that rock I’m clinging;
Since Love is Lord of heaven and earth,
How can I keep from singing?

When tyrants tremble, sick with fear
And hear their death-knell ringing;
When friends rejoice both far and near
How can I keep from singing?
In prison cell and dungeon vile
Our thoughts to them are winging.
When friends by shame are undefiled
How can I keep from singing?

SING OUT, Volume 7, No. 1, 1957
Folk revival song popularized by Pete Seeger

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333

Photo: wind art on my back porch December 2007

Reminder - no worship service tonight

2008-01-02T06:00:00.000-08:00

If you attend The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek this evening, this is what you will find. That's because there is no worship service scheduled. We will see you on Sunday, January 6 at 10:00 a.m., and on Wednesdays thereafter at 6:15 p.m.

In the meantime, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." (Ephesians 1:2)

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333
chair setup and photo: The Rev. Frank Logue

The Holy Name

2008-01-01T06:00:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year.

On this day we celebrate the naming of Jesus.

Eternal Father, you gave your incarnate Son the holy name of Jesus to be the sign of our salvation: Plant in every heart, we pray, the love of him who is the Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

In peace,
Linda+

the Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333

Photo: Statue depicting Mary and Jesus
at St. Mary's Sewanee Retreat Center,
Sewanee, TN July 2007 at sunset

Giving up the old to go on to the new

2007-12-31T06:00:00.000-08:00

For years the birds enjoyed this old dead tree. In it they roosted at night and sunned themselves by day. Now that it has fallen into the creek, they have had to find new trees in which to roost.

Maybe as we close out this year we can take a lesson from the birds. We can realize that some things are gone forever and will never be restored. Time is one such commodity, so let us live every day of the New Year to the fullest.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

The Twelve Days of Christmas

2007-12-30T06:00:00.000-08:00

It is good that we get to celebrate Christmas for twelve days. There is so much to celebrate. The flurry of Christmas gifts, meal preparation, and family gatherings is too much to take in within the usual twenty-four hours allotted between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We need time for reflection. We need time to think about the amazing gift that was given to us at Bethlehem.

How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his heaven.
No ear may hear his coming, but in this word of sin,
where meek souls will receive him,
still the dear Christ enters in.

--Phillips Brooks, "O Little Town of Bethlehem", verse 3

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333
Photos by Linda McCloud: The Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem

August 2004

Top: Greek Orthodox portion of the church

Middle: The Chapel of St. Joseph

Lower: Shrine marking the spot where Jesus was born.

It is in a cave under the main portion of the church.

The Light of your life

2007-12-29T06:00:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow's Gospel reading is John 1:1-18, the "Prologue" to John's Gospel, which includes these unforgettable words:

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things came into being through him,
and without him not one thing came into being.
What has come into being in him was life,
and the life
was the light of all people.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness did not overcome it.

John's Gospel concentrates not on the details of the birth of Jesus Christ, but on the reasons for and the consequences of Jesus' coming into the world. Since Jesus came, the world has never been the same. The world can never shake off the effects of the thirty-three years Jesus spent on earth revealing God to us.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Photo: Sun in the Live Oaks, Cumberland Island

Shadows of the evening

2007-12-28T06:00:00.000-08:00

Although I usually publish this blog in the morning, today I want to focus on some of my favorite prayers for evening from The Book of Common Prayer. This seems appropriate since the shadows of 2007 are lengthening and the New Year will soon dawn.

O Lord, support us all the day long, until the shadows lengthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in your mercy, grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last. Amen.

O Lord God Almighty, as you have taught us to call the evening, the morning, and the noonday one day; and have made the sun to know its going down: Dispel the darkness of our hearts, that by your brightness we may know you to be the true God and eternal light, living and reigning for ever and ever. Amen.

Be our light in the darkness, O Lord, and in your great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of your only Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love's sake. Amen.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneyhcreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333
Photo: taken at the Dungeness ruins
on Cumberland Island, December 6, 2007

Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist

2007-12-27T06:00:00.000-08:00

Today is the feast day of Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist, the only one of the original twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ to die a natural death. John and his brother James were young fishermen when Jesus walked the shores of the Sea of Galilee and called them to fish for people. They immediately left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired hands. They followed Jesus without looking back.

John is known as the "beloved disciple" and "Saint John the Divine." He stood at the foot of the cross and, at the request of Jesus, took Jesus' mother Mary into his own care as if she were his mother. John was exiled to the Island of Patmos where he penned the Revelation. The main theme of John's life? In a word, "love." His writings tell us over and again to love one another because God is love. And John should know.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

The Feast of Stephen

2007-12-26T06:00:00.000-08:00

We don't get any break between the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord and the feast of the first Christian martyr, Saint Stephen the Deacon. The Feast of Stephen was commemorated in 1853 in a carol by British composer John Mason Neale. King Wenceslas, a Tenth Century Bohemian Christian king, was martyred and is the patron saint of the Czech Republic.

The carol makes no mention of the holy nativity of Jesus, but is sung at Christmas because Stephen's feast day is December 26. Stephen was one of the first seven deacons ordained by the Apostles to serve tables and care for widows (Acts chapters 6 and 7).

Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even
Brightly shone the moon that night
Though the frost was cruel
When a poor man came in sight
Gath'ring winter fuel

"Hither, page, and stand by me
If thou know'st it, telling
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?"
"Sire, he lives a good league hence
Underneath the mountain
Right against the forest fence
By Saint Agnes' fountain."

"Bring me flesh and bring me wine
Bring me pine logs hither
Thou and I will see him dine
When we bear him thither."
Page and monarch forth they went
Forth they went together
Through the rude wind's wild lament
And the bitter weather

"Sire, the night is darker now
And the wind blows stronger
Fails my heart, I know not how,
I can go no longer."
"Mark my footsteps, my good page
Tread thou in them boldly
Thou shalt find the winter's rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly."

In his master's steps he trod
Where the snow lay dinted
Heat was in the very sod
Which the Saint had printed
Therefore, Christian men, be sure
Wealth or rank possessing
Ye who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing

It sounds just like something Jesus would have done, or Jesus' follower Stephen the Deacon would have done.

We give you thanks, O Lord of glory, for the example of the first martyr Stephen, who looked up to heaven and prayed for his persecutors to your Son Jesus Christ, who stands at your right hand; where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333

Merry Christmas from Our Savior

2007-12-25T06:00:00.000-08:00

To all in your home from all at The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek - we wish you a blessed Christmas.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Fourth Sunday of Advent

2007-12-23T06:00:00.000-08:00

Today is the last Sunday in Advent - that season in which we have recounted the first coming of Jesus Christ into the world, and look forward to his coming again with power and great glory. Here is a hymn that expresses those sentiments:

Blest be the King whose coming is in the name of God
For him let doors be opened, no hearts against him barred
Not robed in royal splendor, in power and pomp, comes he
but clad as are the poorest, such his humility

Blest be the King whose coming is in the name of God
By those who truly listen his voice is truly heard
pity the proud and haughty, who have not learned to heed
the Christ who is the Promise, who has atonement made

Blest be the King whose coming is in the name of God
He only to the humble reveals the face of God
All power is his, all glory! All things are in his hand
all ages and all peoples, till time itself shall end

Blest be the King whose coming is in the name of God
He offers to the burdened the rest and grace they need
Gentle is he and humble! And light his yoke shall be
for he would have us bear it so he can make us free

Frederico J. Pagura (b. 1923); tr. F. Pratt Green (b. 1903)

Tomorrow, December 24, we will have our Christmas Eve service at 5:00 p.m.

Our Christmas Day service will be at 10:00 a.m.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333

Joseph wasn't just dreaming

2007-12-22T05:21:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow's Gospel, Matthew 1:18-25, tells us of Joseph, who was engaged to be married to Mary, then found out that she was going to have a child he knew was not his. That was scary stuff in his society, because Mary could have suffered the fate of being stoned to death. He could prevent it, though. He planned to not make a public fuss and just "dismiss her quietly."

That was when God intervened. God sent an angel to appear to Joseph in a dream and say, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afaid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus for he will save his people from their sins."

Joseph's willingness to obey God and take responsibility for Mary, to name and claim Jesus, stands as an example to us. The grace, wisdom and obedience of Joseph protected Mary and Jesus through the turmoil at Bethlehem and the exile in Egypt. Finally, Joseph had the good wisdom to avoid political controversy and settle his family back in Nazareth, which they had left in disgrace.

And Joseph did all this without one of his words being quoted in scripture.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333

Doubting Thomas, Apostle of Jesus Christ

2007-12-21T06:00:00.000-08:00

Today is the feast day of Saint Thomas the Apostle, often referred to as "doubting Thomas." I say, “hooray for Doubting Thomas!” We do not have to take someone else’s word for it that Jesus is alive. We can know, as Thomas knew, that God does not have grandchildren. God has children. We can’t go to heaven on someone else’s coattails. We must experience the Risen Christ for ourselves. This is why the church exacts of us Baptismal Vows. The questions that demand responses are very direct – “Do you believe . . .” – not “do you believe that someone else believes?” If you come to faith on your own, no one can pull the rug out from under you. Like Thomas, you will be able to say of Jesus: “My Lord and my God!”

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333
P.S. Happy Birthday to my nephew James
and my great-nephew Ethan

Sharing today's joy and beauty

2007-12-20T04:55:00.000-08:00

Here are photos of the sunrise today, in stages of its development, as seen from Honey Creek. Oops! How did those cats get on the blog? To quote the late comedian Jimmy Durante: "Everyone wants to get into the act." May it be so in the praise of Almighty God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333

Ember Days

2007-12-19T04:08:00.000-08:00

"Today is an Ember Day, and on Ember Days, we pray, among other things, that God would raise up priests to serve at the altar."

Those were the words I heard on an Ember Day in 1997 when I was struggling with my priestly calling. Those Ember Days come around four times a year, and as a seminarian I was required on those days to write to my Bishop or see him in person to make a report of my academic, spiritual, and personal development.

On this Ember Day we pray for all Seminarians and others preparing to receive Holy Orders:

Almighty God, the giver of all good gifts, in your divine providence you have appointed various orders in your Church: Give your grace, we humbly pray, to all who are now called to any office and ministry for your people; and so fill them with the truth of your doctrine and clothe them with holiness of life, that they may faithfully serve before you, to the glory of your great Name and for the benefit of your holy Church; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

For the sake of the Gospel

2007-12-18T06:00:00.000-08:00

One week from today, families will gather to celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace. Our world has never been a very peaceful place, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ remains the gold standard for harmony, justice, and ethical treatmet of every human being.

That is why this prayer by E. Glenn Hinson is pertinent to our Christmas celebrations with family, wherein there might be conflict simmering under the surface of all the trimmings of the season.

"For the sake of the gospel," O God, that is my plea.

For the sake of the gospel help me to lay aside all pettiness and meanness of spirit.

For the sake of the gospel let me find ways to overcome conflict and divisions.Yet for the sake of the gospel may I not substitute what is not gospel for the gospel or compromise the gospel out of fear or betray the gospel out of self-interest.

For the sake of the gospel help me to stand fast for the gospel.
For the sake of the gospel help me to be faithful to the gospel.

And, finally, O God, for the sake of the gospel enable me, above all, to distinguish what is gospel from what is not the gospel.

For the sake of the gospel enable me to discern the line I must never cross.

For the sake of the gospel enable me to know when to yield and when to stand fast.

Through Jesus Christ, your gospel, Amen.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

A Prayer for the Renewal of Life

2007-12-17T04:58:00.000-08:00

O God, the king eternal,
whose light divides the day from the night
and turns the shadow of death into the morning:
Drive far from us all wrong desires,
incline our hearts to keep your law,
and guide our feet into the way of peace;
that, having done your will with cheerfulness
during the day,
we may, when night comes,
rejoice to give you thanks;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333

Photo taken at Duncan Gray Center

Prayer for the Third Sunday of Advent

2007-12-16T08:53:00.000-08:00

Stir up your power,
O Lord,
and with great might come among us;
and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins,
let your bountiful grace and mercy
speedily help and deliver us;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit,
be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

In peace,
Linda:

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviohoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333

"He has filled the hungry with good things"

2007-12-15T06:00:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow our Gospel reading is Matthew 11:2-11 wherein we find John the Baptizer in prison, asking after Jesus. "Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?" This is the question of every generation and the answer to the two-part query is "yes" to the first half and "no" to the second.

In tomorrow's worship service we also have the option to read or sing the Song of Mary, the mother of our Lord (Luke 1:46-55). It goes like this:

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel,
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Psalm 23 (A Metrical Paraphrase)

2007-12-14T06:00:00.000-08:00

You have probably seen this paraphrase of Psalm 23
by Frank Burch Brown,

but it bears repeating at this season of the year.

Sing it to the tune of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"

and add a little extra cheer to your Christmas celebration.

I know the Lord's my shepherd;
I won't ever need a thing.
He gives me grass that's greenest;
Takes me to the coolest spring.

When I am sad he cheers me;
When I'm bad he makes me good.
Wherever he will lead me,
I will follow as I should.

Though I walk through val-leys
Dark as death and sin,
Nothing there can frighten me;
With your staff you're my true friend.

People can see I'm fed well;
I could hardly ask for more.
I'm going to stay forever
With the one who's really Lord!

We will not be singing this at the Christmas Eve candlelight service, BTW.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333

Power and mystery

2007-12-13T06:00:00.000-08:00

The power and mystery of the ocean
remind us of the mystery of all life
and call us to humility
in all our relationships.

Each revelation of the depth
and beauty of others
invites a respectful affirmation
and acceptance of their being.
We need to be attentive enough
to recognize this powerful mystery.

--James McGinnis

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333

Photo: churning waters in wake of a boat

December 6, 2007

A Public Service of Healing

2007-12-12T04:20:00.001-08:00

This evening at 6:15 p.m. at Our Savior we will have A Public Service of Healing and Holy Communion. This will be slightly different from our usual Wednesday night services in that there will be no music and a very brief sermon. The primary difference is that at some point in the service all who desire it may come forward for the laying on of hands, anointing with holy oil, and prayers by the priest. All are welcome.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333

Thinking ahead to Christmas Eve

2007-12-11T04:01:00.000-08:00

True, we are in the middle of Advent, but I hope you will plan ahead to Christmas Eve and mark your calendar for the 5:00 p.m. candlelight service at The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek. More reminders will be posted in the next week or so.

We will also have a Christmas Day service at 10:00 a.m.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Thirty-nine years ago . . .

2007-12-10T06:00:00.000-08:00

Fr. Louis (Thomas) Merton: died December 10, 1968

"I have a hard time trying to imagine what it is going to mean for me to become a priest. Sometimes I am terrified at the thought. Ultimately the only solution to that problem is obedience. I go ahead under obedience. If my Superiors want me to be a priest, it is at least safe. God wants it and He will do me good by it although it may contain an unimaginable death.

"Sometimes I want to run away and be a tramp and hang around on the roads without anything, like Humble George or Saint Benedict Joseph Labre." (from The Sign of Jonas, p. 105)

In peace,
The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Everything that has breath

2007-12-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

Our Psalm at Morning Prayer
is Psalm 150

Hallelujah!
Praise God in his holy temple;
praise him in the firmament of his power.

Praise him for his mighty acts;
praise him for his excellent greatness.

Praise him with the blast of the ram's-horn;
praise him with lyre and harp.

Praise him with timbrel and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe.

Praise him with resounding cymbals;
praise him with loud-clanging cymbals.

Let everything that has breath
praise the Lord.
Hallelujah!

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Photo: seagull following boat to Cumberland Island

December 6, 2007

The Second Sunday of Advent - John the Baptist

2007-12-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

All Sundays of Advent are unique in their own way, but the Second Sunday particularly stands apart for its invitation to John the Baptist to come out of the wilderness shouting for us to repent. Our Gospel for tomorrow is Matthew 3:1-12 which gives us this description of John: "Now John wore clothing of camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey." Pretty independent guy, no?

And John was not one to mince words: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. . . . I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."

On Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry
announces that the Lord is nigh;
awake and hearken, for he brings
glad tidings of the King of kings.
[Charles Coffin (1676-1749)]

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Ambrose of Milan

2007-12-07T06:00:00.000-08:00

Today we get to celebrate the life of Ambrose of Milan, who died on this date in 373 A.D. Ambrose was doing just fine, thank us all very much. He had a life as governor in Upper Italy. He had not been baptized, although he had been brought up as a Christian. He only went to Milan that day to mediate between the factions who each wanted to elect their own person as bishop.

There is an apocryphal story that says as Ambrose entered the town square, a dove landed on his shoulder. Be that as it may, both sides in the argument began to shout, "Ambrose shall be our bishop!" But wait - wasn't there one minor detail of getting him baptized first, and how about ordination as deacon and priest before he could be ordained bishop?

Once that was all settled, Ambrose took his job of bishop very seriously and became a "statesman of the church." His ministry included eloquent writing and speaking, which attracted Augustine of Hippo to Christianity. This was reminiscent of St. Andrew bringing his brother Peter to Jesus. Peter seemed to get all the attention after that, just as Augustine overshadows Ambrose.

A meditation attributed to Ambrose includes: "Lord Jesus Christ, you are for me medicine when I am sick; you are my strength when I need help; you are life itself when I fear death; you are the way when I long for heaven; you are light when all is dark; you are my food when I need nourishment." He also wrote hymns which we still sing, which I will save for another time.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333

Nicholas of Myra

2007-12-06T06:00:00.000-08:00

"Oh, you better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I'm telling you why . . ." today is the feast day of Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, who died in about 342 A.D.
St. Nicholas is one of those saints about which we hear a lot but know a little. He is especially popular in England where four hundred churches are named in his honor.

What we do know of St. Nicholas is that he suffered torture and imprisonment before Christianity became legal in the Roman Empire. We know St. Nicholas best as "Santa Claus" who brings gifts to children. We can thank the Dutch Colonialists who settled New York for bringing the concept of Santa Claus to America.

One other thing about St. Nicholas - and because my two oldest brothers served in the U. S. Navy it's one of my favorite things -- Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors. We have a lot of sailors around Camden County, especially those connected with the Kings Bay Submarine Base. If you or someone you love is a sailor, remember St. Nicholas on his special day - December 6.

"Almighty God, in your love you gave your servant Nicholas of Myra a perpetual name for deeds of kindness both on land and sea: Grant, we pray, that your church may never cease to work for the happiness of children, the safety of sailors, the relief of the poor, and the help of those tossed by tempests of doubt or grief; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen."

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Remembering Aggie

2007-12-05T06:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning Agnes Strickland died. She was one of our first charter members. Aggie had been ill for some time and most recently was taken from the hospital to Hospice of the Golden Isles. We held a brief memorial service for her family last evening at Our Savior and the funeral service Aggie helped plan for herself will be held in February.

While Aggie was in the hospital growing weaker each day, she would slip in and out of awareness of her surroundings. When I visited her I would usually ask her family members to join me in praying The Lord's Prayer, and somehow Aggie would often muster the strength to join in at some point in the prayer.

The most powerful evidence that she would have peace and a holy death came last Wednesday. When I visited I was sitting there praying prayers for the sick out of The Book of Common Prayer. Then I handed the book to Aggie's son and asked if he would like to read a Psalm or some prayers. He turned to Psalm 23 and began reading. Aggie had not spoken a word for some time, but when her son got to that point of Psalm 23 that says, "though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me . . ." Aggie chimed in and quoted along with him as he read those words.

May she rest in peace, and may light perpetual shine upon her.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

We are all the choir

2007-12-04T05:03:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow at Our Savior we will celebrate a traditional Anglican event: A Service of Nine Lessons and Carols. This is a lovely way to tell about God's saving acts in history. It begins with the Genesis story of the fall of Adam and Eve, travels through the prophecies that a Savior would come, leads us into the Gospels where we hear once again the stories of the birth of Jesus, and finally into the Prologue to John's Gospel -- the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

Interspersed between readings will be the carols of Advent and Christmas - the coming of Jesus the first time and his expected second coming in power and great glory. At Our Savior we don't have a separate choir to sing these hymns, so Lessons and Carols is not a spectator activity. We are all the choir, so please come and join in the singing.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333

Deacons and their work

2007-12-03T06:00:00.000-08:00

In yesterday's worship service at Our Savior we had the pleasure of the company of several deacons and persons who are studying to become deacons in the Episcopal Church. These persons will represent the church to the world and the world to the church. They are the ones who will bring to our attention those whom society often overlooks.

Almighty and most merciful God, we remember before you all poor and neglected persons whom it would be easy for us to forget: the homeless and the destitute, the old and the sick, and all who have none to care for them. Help us to heal those who are broken in body or spirit, and to turn their sorrow into joy. Grant this, Father, for the love of your Son, who for our sake became poor, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. The Book of Common Prayer, 826.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333

Happy New [Church] Year

2007-12-02T06:00:00.000-08:00

Today is the First Sunday of Advent - officially the start of a new church year. In Advent we focus on the coming of Jesus Christ as a baby in the manger, while at the same time giving full rein to our hopes for his second coming to earth in power and great glory. At this time of year we consider justice issues and think what it will be like to dwell in peace.

Our Psalm at morning prayer expresses some of these sentiments:

Psalm 146

Hallelujah!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

Put not your trust in rulers, nor in any child of earth,
for there is no help in them.

When they breathe their last, they return to earth,
and in that day their thoughts perish.

Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help!
whose hope is in the Lord their God;

Who made heaven and earth, the seas,
and all that is in them;
who keeps his promise for ever;

Who gives justice to those who are oppressed,
and food to those who hunger.

The Lord sets the prisoners free;
The Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;

The Lord loves the righteous;
the Lord cares for the stranger;
he sustains the orphan and widow,
but frustrates the way of the wicked.

The Lord shall reign for ever,
your God, O Zion, throughout all generations.
Hallelujah!

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333

As the days of Noah

2007-12-01T06:00:00.000-08:00

Our Gospel lesson for tomorrow, the First Sunday of Advent, is Matthew 24:36-44:

On the Mount of Olives, Jesus said to his disciples privately about his coming, "But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

"For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left.

"Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour."

I will leave Jesus' advice to stand without further comment.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com
912-267-0333

Always wanted to be an Apostle

2007-11-30T06:00:00.000-08:00

Today is the Feast Day of St. Andrew the Apostle of Jesus Christ. Although he was among the first persons whom Jesus called to be apostles, and although he was formerly in the fishing business with three other of Jesus' apostles, Andrew's main claim to fame is that he was "St. Peter's brother." From what we know of St. Peter, that in itself would have been a full-time job.

Almighty God, who gave such grace to your apostle Andrew that he readily obeyed the call of your Son Jesus Christ, and brought his brother with him: Give us, who are called by your Holy Word, grace to follow him without delay, and to bring those near to us into his gracious presence; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

Born again bird watchers

2007-11-29T06:00:00.000-08:00

As a blogger I like to scan the list of blog titles. Today I ran across one entitled, "Born Again Bird Watcher." That person is a real pro at bird watching, which I am not.

As an amateur bird watcher I have enjoyed seeing the Cormorants return to Honey Creek. They have a favorite limb on a dead tree, and I am always amazed that they share that limb with the Wood Storks. In fact, the only time I see Wood Storks in that tree is when the Cormorants are present. I think there is something Christian about their behavior. So today here is the offering of yet another "Born again bird watcher."

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333

A wise use of time

2007-11-28T06:00:00.000-08:00

Here's another "Saying of Light and Love"
from John of the Cross:

"Since, when the hour of reckoning comes,
you will be sorry
for not having used this time
in the service of God,
why do you not arrange and use it now
as you would wish to have done
were you dying?"

In peace,
Linda+

The Rev. Linda McCloud
Pastor
The Episcopal Church of Our Savior at Honey Creek
http://www.oursaviorhoneycreek.org/
http://oursaviorhoneycreek.blogspot.com/
912-267-0333