Post election message to the Parish

I thought I would post on here the article I wrote to the parish in our weekly e-news Epistle. Following this article is a link to our YouTube channel where you can watch sermons. I pray all this may be a blessing to someone out there!

From the Rector’s Desk

A long and contentious election season is now behind us. I know this newsletter finds some of you perhaps despondent, angry and / or confused, and finds others perhaps delighted, excited, and / or relieved. It is the same whenever our nation goes to the polls to select our President and other leaders.

I do think the disunity in our nation takes a toll on all of us. We as beloved disciples of Jesus can lead to a better way. I want to suggest a few things:

Take care of yourself. If you need some time, take some time. 

Be gracious winners and losers. You may be tempted to gloat or tempted to lash out. Consider this in conversations and in social media posts. Be gentle. Be loving. Be like Jesus!

As beloved of God, we have so many more things in common with one another than we have that separates us from one another. Jesus said, “a house divided cannot stand”, and while I don’t think he was talking about presidential elections, I do think he was talking about the body of Christ.

There is a reason Jesus’ last commandment to his disciples was to “love one another as I have loved you”. I think he said it, right there at the end of his earthly life, because he knew first of all loving one another that way is imperative to bringing the Reign of God near, and secondly because he knew it would be hard. Remembering how important Jesus thought these sometimes challenging and even courageous acts of love will be, our mandate as his disciples is clear.

In closing I will share with you the blessing former Presiding Bishop Michael Curry always uses, the first part is identical to the one I use myself, the second part lines up perfectly with his Way of Love theology:

Go forth into the world in peace

Be strong and of good courage

Hold fast to that which is good

Render to no one evil for evil

Love God, love your neighbor, love yourself

And the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be upon you now and always

Fr. David

The St. Simon’s on the Sound YouTube channel can be found at:

https://www.youtube.com/c/StSimonsontheSoundEpiscopalChurch

To find previous sermon (full services in fact) recordings, click the “Live” button, the sermons are listed from newest to oldest.

The sermon from November 10th starts at about 17:40 into the video for that day.

19 or 1?

It’s been a weird day. I think I have written about this before. I didn’t really know why I felt out of sorts, a bit lost and unfocused all day today. Then it hit me. My beloved, Jennifer, posted a link on Facebook to an amazing post she made a few years ago, outlining our experience with “that storm” during and after the landfall of “she who shall not be named”. Jennifer captures everything so well, although she does downplay the enormous work she did in establishing and running our onsite medical clinic at Camp Coast Care and her subsequent work as the leader of the Children’s Health Fund medical and mental health teams post-Katrina, both of which impacted the lives of thousands of people, including lots of kids, after the storm.

Today I noticed she had posted on Facebook a link (https://www.facebook.com/TennisRN) to those thoughts she had written several years ago. So yes, I chased that rabbit down the hole, reliving, remembering, hearing it and smelling it and seeing it. I found myself weeping uncontrollably, once again. Does it get better?

Some of the tears are of course for those who lost so much, about a church that was never the same, about people who lost loved ones and people who, like us, are forever scarred. Other tears are for what could have been, what changed so much in our lives, for good and for ill, for our children and how it impacts them to this day, and for the legion of people who loved us and came to our aid, sacrificing so much for those in great need.

I also wept thinking of the example of Christ like love and compassion we were enveloped in. I am forever grateful. 19 years. On days like today, it is so fresh and so horrid and yet all that is wrapped in two words – love and gratitude. We were so blessed by so many of you. Thank you.

Bible Study on Luke starts September 10th

The Rector’s Bible study this fall will focus on the gospel of Luke. We meet on Tuesdays starting September 10th, at 10:30 and 6:00, usually in the Parish Hall.

The classes are also available live on Zoom and recordings on a special web site. I would love for any readers to join us in person or via Zoom. To do so, send me an email ([email protected]) with your email address, or comment on this post (be sure to leave your email address in the comment).

I will then sign you up for weekly emails with the Zoom links and a link to previously recorded classes. Previous classes recorded include 1st Peter, Knowing God through Scripture, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Romans, and Revelation.

I would love to have some former parishioners and any readers of this blog join the classes. The recordings are usually posted within a few days so you can use them to stay current in case you miss some sessions.

Hope to “see” you in class in September!

Sunday, August 4th was a GREAT DAY

This past Sunday was a highlight in my ordained life! I have never had a church celebrate an anniversary in that way, my family and I felt so loved and honored. I am grateful to the Bible study group and all who helped make it happen, and most of all for all of you. Your love and support mean the world to me. 

I got too choked up talking about my grandkids to add a few words for my wife and kids. I thank Steve Brown and Mary Hauge for honoring Jennifer as well – the life of a clergy spouse is hard, y’all! She will tell you, “I didn’t marry a Priest”, but she was also the first person to recognize my calling and to say it out loud! Thank you Jennifer for your love and support and sacrifices.

And when I was talking about why I have my grandkids join me at the altar whenever they visit, I really should have mentioned how my own children have had to make adjustments and compromises all these years. They even schedule grandchildren birthday parties early on Saturday mornings so I can come and be back for church! 

Every clergy family makes sacrifices and compromises (as do most families I know), and my family is honored and happy to do so. I wish my two sons-in-law John and Wynne, and my son Joseph and daughter-in-law Flannery, with baby George, could have been there too, but having Chelsea with Eliza and Oliver, and Mackenzie with Juby and Mills, along with our son’s first born, Jane, made the day perfect! And I must say, having Juby and Eliza, the two oldest grands, serve at the altar, was the best! What a day!

Again, I am so grateful for all of you and blessed to serve amongst you.

Prayers for our nation and our world

Dear Friends:

As I continue to reflect on the event this past Saturday, the attempted assassination of former President Trump, I have prayed and searched for words to share with all of you during these troubling times. I hope you join me in praying for the family of the young man killed, for those who were wounded, for President Trump and his family, and most of all for the soul of our nation. As followers of the Prince of Peace, may we all strive to be Peacemakers in all that we do and speak.

I wanted to share with you some words and prayers I found comforting. May God hear our prayers and transform our hearts and minds to be people of love.

From our Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church – the Most Reverend Michael Curry:

“The way of love—not the way of violence—is the way we bind up our nation’s wounds. We decry political violence in any form, and our call as followers of Jesus of Nazareth is always to love. We pray for the families of those who were killed. We pray for former President Trump and his family and for all who were harmed or impacted by this incident. I pray that we as a nation and a world may see each other as the beloved children of God.”

From our Bishop – the Right Reverend Russell Kendrick:

Friends and neighbors in the Central Gulf Coast,

As I write to you, only 16 hours have passed since the assassination attempt on President Donald Trump. Questions continue to be raised. The news continues to develop. Emotions continue to stir. Social media continues to spiral. The future continues to unfold. Into the waves and wind of this storm, let us recall and repeat these words of comfort, healing, and hope. “Peace be with you.”

And as we make our way forward, may we remember that we follow the way, truth, and life of Christ Jesus.

Let us pray for all personally affected and emotionally impacted by the horror of this event. Pray for President Trump’s full recovery and pray for his family too. Pray for those who mourn; pray for those whose actions brought calm and resolve. And let us pray for our way forward being guided by the familiar words of this prayer attributed to Saint Francis calling us to be instruments of peace.

Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

May the Peace of God which surpasses all understanding be with each and all.

+Russell

Lastly, this prayer written by philosopher, pastor, educator, theologian, and civil rights leader Howard Thurman. At our recent General Convention, we passed a resolution directing our Standing Committee on Liturgy and Music to prepare readings and collects for honoring Thurman on or around April 10th each year, on our calendar of Lesser Feasts and Fasts. Consequently, in preparation for General Convention, I began reading some of his works. I am completely blown away by his writings and grateful for his life. I encourage you to investigate some of Thurman’s works. This prayer seemed most appropriate for our current situation:

Prayer For A Friendly World

Our Father, fresh from the world, with the smell of life upon us, we make an act of prayer in the silence of this place.  Our minds are troubled because the anxieties of our hearts are deep and searching.  We are stifled by the odor of death which envelopes our earth, where in so many places brother fights against brother.  The panic of fear, the torture of insecurity, the ache of hunger, all have fed and rekindled ancient hatreds and long-forgotten memories of old struggles, when the world was young and Thy children were but dimly aware of Thy Presence in the midst.  For all this, we seek forgiveness.  There is no one of us without guilt and, before Thee, we confess our sins: we are proud and arrogant; we are selfish and greedy; we have harbored in our hearts and minds much that makes for bitterness, hatred and revenge.

 While we wait in Thy Presence, search our spirits and grant to our minds the guidance and the wisdom that will teach us the way to take, without which there can be no peace and no confidence anywhere.  Teach us how to put at the disposal of Thy Purposes of Peace the fruits of our industry, the products of our minds, the vast wealth of our land and the resources of our spirit.  Grant unto us the courage to follow the illumination of this hour to the end that we shall not lead death to any man’s door; but rather may we strengthen the hands of all in high places, and in common tasks seek to build a friendly world, of friendly men & women, beneath a friendly sky.  This is the simple desire of our hearts which we share with Thee in thanksgiving and confidence.

From “The Centering Moment”, by Howard Thurman (1984)

Itinerant: noun. a person who alternates between working and wandering.