Good Stuff in TEC - Priest's husband donates kidney ...

This is a great story, and these are great people. As the old camp song goes, "They will know we are Christians by our Love, by our Love, They will know we are Christians by our Love."

Gift of Life: What's a Kidney Among Friends?

BY DEBORAH SALOMON: FEATURE WRITER

Happiness, "Peanuts" ­creator Charles Schulz declared, is a warm puppy.

For Jay St. John, happiness -- euphoria, actually -- is a new ­kidney from an unlikely source.

"I feel great, just great," St. John says as he gestures with open arms, as though welcoming his restored life.

After years of illness and six months of dialysis, St. John, the 60-year-old headmaster at Episcopal Day School in Southern Pines, received a gift of immeasurable value medically, emotionally and spiritually.

The kidney transplanted on May 5 at the UNC Kidney Center in Chapel Hill was volunteered by 27-year-old artist, musician, teacher and cabinetmaker Jonathan Brower, who is neither relative nor old friend -- but a good match. Success was immediate.

Read it all HERE

Cares and Occupations - and not forgetting God

A Collect for Guidance

Heavenly Father, in you we live and move and have our being: We humbly pray you so to guide and govern us by your Holy Spirit, that in all the cares and occupations of our life we may not forget you, but may remember that we are ever walking in your sight; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Well, the big personal news for me and my family is that all the various paperwork came together (somehow! and not without some major, unnecessary incompetence from our bankers) and we closed on our house yesterday. We are excited and we are also quickly moving into the various "to do" lists which come now: getting our stuff moved in, doing some minor repairs and perhaps painting and such. We are deeply involved in the "cares and occupations of our life" these days as we have three kids and are also in the midst of this intensely liminal space. Thankfully, my spouse's parents live nearby and are helping with our kids, and we have some time off from work so we can do at least some of the tasks that are needed to be done.

And in the midst of it all it is so easy to forget the most important things in life, in the midst of our cares and occupations it is so easy to forget God, to forget that as important as the color of the kitchen walls are, and the dead branch over the porch, our attention should lift, from time to time to God. Remembering God and God's everpresent grace in our lives is essential for a full and abundant life. I pray that we can all not forget God in the midst of all of our cares and occupations.

Blessings on this wonderful day,

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Transitions....John 14:2

"In my Father's house are many rooms;
if it were not so, I would have told you.
I am going there to prepare a place for you."

John 14:2

The blogging has been very light of late, as we are in the midst of transitions in our family. We're getting ready to start 2 new jobs, move to a new town, and today, we hope to close on a house. There may be a possibility that it will get delayed, but we're praying it goes relatively smoothly.

So, we're in the "in between" country of not really living here, nor there, of not really working here nor there, of being in-between and praying that God will be with us and that we will feel God's grace in our lives during these many changes.

In a little over a week, I will begin full-time work in a parish just outside of Charlottesville, VA as associate rector at Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Greenwood and I am looking forward to it with great anticipation. The church is a great community of people and there is solid leadership in a wonderful rector and lay leadership. I am excited to continue my ministry there, and to learn and serve alongside such wonderful people.

Praying that we will feel the Spirit even as we work with banks, lawyers and the rest!

Peace,

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Indaba wine....Ubuntu beer?

At the Anglican Bishops' Lambeth Conference last year, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams had the bishops meet in "Indaba" groups in which they explored scripture, built friendships, and worked towards greater unity in the Church. I happily noticed bottles of "Indaba wine" while on vacation in Cape Cod. Is Ubuntu beer next?

Article: "Who gets fed?" at Episcopal Cafe

My latest article, "Who gets fed?" was also posted today over at the Episcopal Cafe:

Who gets fed?

By Peter M. Carey

At my family’s cottage on Cape Cod, there is a bird feeder place in the middle of the front yard. It has been there for 20 years or so, made of brown metal, on a black pole. It has a kind of a perch for the birds to sit on which “shuts off” the access to bird seed if an animal larger than the average bird tries to get the food. It is designed so that squirrels and blackbirds will not be able to get to the food. Over the years, this bird feeder has been given new life through a black bungee cord which helps to keep it attached to the pole, and also through several stakes pounded into the ground and fastened to the pole, so that it continues to stand more or less upright.

Recently, I was sitting and watching the bird feeder out of the corner of my eye during a Sunday morning rain shower. The birds came steadily to feed. Sorry to say I am no accomplished birder, but I recognized red-winged blackbirds, cardinals, blue jays, robins, an agile blackbird or two, as well as countless little birds beyond my ability to identify. What was also remarkable were two chipmunks who found a way to climb up the pole, onto the perch, and who filled their cheeks with food and then scurried down and into the woods. The chipmunks took turns, it seemed, to grab the food and then sock it away. At times, the chipmunks shared the perch with a bird or two, and at times the chipmunks startled the birds, and at times a bird startled the chipmunks. But, on that Sunday morning, there was plenty of food to go around. I even saw a courageous and agile squirrel hold onto the top of the feeder and stretch down to eat bird food for several seconds before sliding off the feeder. Luckily for the squirrel, the birds are somewhat messy eaters, and there is plenty of birdseed scattered on the ground.

Read it HERE