Recognizing Jesus

Do you know Jesus when you see him?






The Stranger

You're still a stranger;
Wandering through the wilderness.
Still rejected, passed by on the street,
Starving, hungry, naked, and cold,
Pleading for a cup of cold water;
Dying all alone.

No longer mistaken
For the rebel You truly are.
You would still be tearing up temples,
Scattering the money of fools,
Scandalizing righteous pretenders,
Breaking ll the rules.

No longer blinded.
In the light I see who You really are.
Never doing what is expected,
Far beyond the frame of my mind.
Caring for the poor and neglected,
Washing the feet of the beggar on the street,
While the rich men make believe You'll never come.

--- Michael Card (1957 - )


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

How can you increase your faith?

"Increase our Faith!"

Our Gospel lesson for tomorrow (Luke 17:5-10) contains within it advice on how to increase our faith. In a word -- "serve."

Here is the full text:

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" The Lord replied, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea," and it would obey you. Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, 'Come here at once and take your place at the table'? Would you not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink'? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, 'We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!'"



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

Is love blind?

What do you see in that person?


Love implies a directedness only toward whatever is proper to the fullness of the beloved. It is a journey into the unknown, toward values that become clearer only in its movement. The full value of the object is always more than what is presently given.

The lover senses a horizon of value -- we might call it an aura of mystery -- lying in and behind every value that he or she already knows. This horizon of higher value may include new values or it may be a new depth in the values already felt. Thus, love always includes a sense of expectation and hope, and love grounds a trust that exceeds legitimate inferences from past experience.

At the religious level, love intimates that reality is an inexhaustible fullness to which we can entrust ourselves.

--- Edward Collins Vacek, S.J., Love, Human and Divine, p. 44.


I also had to read this twice to get it.


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

Bless the beasts and the children

The Feast of Francis of Assisi,
d. 1226

It is ironic for me that on this feast of St. Francis who was devoted to "Lady Poverty" I am at an Economic Development Day with "Leadership Camden" which is a program of the Chamber of Commerce.

Here I share a hymn written by Francis, which is in The Hymnal 1982 numbered 406 and 407. It is commonly known as "Canticle of the Sun."

Most High, omnipotent, good Lord,
to thee be ceaseless praise outpoured,
and blessing without measure.
From thee alone all creatures came;
no one is worthy thee to name.

My Lord be praised by brother sun
who through the skies his course doth run,
and shines in brilliant splendor:
with brightness he doth fill the day,
and signifies thy boundless sway.

My Lord be praised by sister moon
and all the stars, that with her soon
will point the glittering heavens.
Let wind and air and cloud and calm
and weathers all, repeat the psalm.

By sister water be thou blessed,
most humble, useful, precious, chaste;
be praised by brother fire;
jocund is he, robust and bright,
an strong to lighten all the night.

By mother earth my Lord be praised;
governed by thee she had upraised
what for our life is needful.
Sustained by thee, through every hour,
she bringeth forth fruit, and herb, and flower.

My Lord be praised by those who prove
in free forgivingness their love,
nor shrink from tribulation.
Happy, who peaceably endure;
with thee, Lord, their reward is sure.

For death our sister, praised be,
from whom no one alive can flee.
Woe to the unprepared!
But blessed be they who do thy will
and follow thy commandments still.

Most High, omnipotent, good Lord,
to thee be ceaseless praise outpoured,
and blessing without measure.
Let creatures all give thanks to thee,
and serve in great humility.

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
Photo: St. Francis in the garden at Honey Creek - LM+

The family that prays together . . .

Prayers For Families

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, you set the solitary in families: We commend to your continual care the homes in which your people dwell. Put far from them, we beseech you, every root of bitterness, the desire of vainglory, and the pride of life. Fill them with faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness. Knit together in constant affection those who, in holy wedlock, have been made one flesh. Turn the hearts of the parents to the children, and the hearts of the children to the parents; and so enkindle fervent charity among us all, that we may evermore be kindly affectioned one to another; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

[The Book of Common Prayer, 828-829]



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
Photo: my brother and sister-in-law who are in their 44th year of marriage to each other leaving the beach at St. Simon's. May 2007. I notice he is carrying her shoes.

Tomorrow at Our Savior

"Instructed Eucharist" tomorrow


Tomorrow, October 3, at 6:15 p.m. we will have another "Instructed Eucharist" as the service for our first Wednesday of the month. Please join us for this service as it will be narrated using a text prepared by The Rev. Frank Logue of King of Peace. As we move through the service explanations will be given for the reasons why we worship God in this manner. Come and learn and stay to ask questions and have dinner.

The service will be followed by a family-style meal in the Dining Hall at Honey Creek. The meal is free but donations will be accepted. For information, please call 912-267-0333.



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

September is history

October's Bright Blue Weather

Helen Hunt Jackson (1830-1885)

October's Bright Blue Weather

O suns and skies and clouds of June,
And flowers of June together,
Ye cannot rival for one hour
October's bright blue weather;

When loud the bumble-bee makes haste,
Belated, thriftless vagrant,
And Golden-Rod is dying fast,
And lanes with grapes are fragrant;

When Gentians roll their fringes tight
To save them for the morning,
And chestnuts fall from satin burrs
Without a sound of warning;

When on the ground red apples lie
In piles like jewels shining,
And redder still on old stone walls
Are leaves of woodbine twining;

When all the lovely wayside things
Their white-winged seeds are sowing,
And in the fields, still green and fair,
Late aftermaths are growing;

When springs run low, and on the brooks,
In idle golden freighting,
Bright leaves sink noiseless in the hush
Of woods, for winter waiting;

When comrades seek sweet country haunts,
By twos and twos together,
And count like misers, hour by hour,
October's bright blue weather.

O suns and skies and flowers of June,
Count all your boasts together,
Love loveth best of all the year
October's bright blue weather.


This poem can be found in:
Jackson, Helen. Poems. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1893.
Stevenson, Burton Egbert, ed. The Home Book of Verse for Young Folks.
New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1915.

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
Photo: Cormorants in a dead tree at Honey Creek
March, 2007 - LM+