A new heaven and a new earth

Advent is a season of preparation; preparation for newness, for new life, for new hope, for a new outlook, for God breaking into our lives in new and unexpected ways.  The book of Revelation has a wonderful vision of the new world that God has in store for us!

~Chaplain Carey

Revelation 21:1-7

I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

"See, the home of God is among mortals.

He will dwell with them as their God;

they will be his peoples,

and God himself will be with them;

he will wipe every tear from their eyes.

Death will be no more;

mourning and crying and pain will be no more,

for the first things have passed away."

And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." Then he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children.

Wait for each other, 1 Corinthians 11:23-34

1 Corinthians 11:23-34 (NRSV)

23 For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." 25 In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. 27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord.

33 So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 34 If you are hungry, eat at home, so that when you come together, it will not be for your condemnation.

Paul was writing to the Christians in Corinth who had developed a rather nasty habit of worshiping separately from one another and some were shut out of the Eucharistic Feast and had to worship later. This may sound trivial to us today, we who worship at churches that might have various services of various styles and liturgical forms. However, Paul was deadly serious about the fact that the people of Corinth should "wait for each other" and not make worship a factional, separatist kind of experience. Paul knew that the way that we worship and pray affects the way that we believe. Leonel Mitchell coined the phrase (in English) "Praying Shapes Believing" when he wrote his book on the liturgy with the same name. In Latin, the phrase is "Lex Orandi, lex credendi" - which can be translated, the law of prayer affects the law of belief.

The way that we gather the way that we worship the way that we offer reverence the way that we organize ourselves does have an effect upon the way that we believe. Our actions do help to create our lived theology. Worship is not really meant to be something that is a la carte, it is not really meant to be something that we choose what feels "best" or most "comfortable"...worship done well may challenge us beyond our comfort zones, and may move us to see that God is bigger than our imagination (and our liturgical tastes). "Wait for one another" is a challenging and helpful prayer to keep on my lips as we consider how we will be in relationship with people from other denominations and from other liturgical sensibilities.

If our praying does shape our believing, it matters that we do wait for one another and work to build up the Body of Christ rather than separate and fragment it. These are challenging and helpful word for us.

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

From where is my help to come, reflection on Psalm 121

from this morning's Daily Office of morning prayer

Psalm 121 Levavi oculos 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills; * from where is my help to come? 2 My help comes from the LORD, * the maker of heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved * and he who watches over you will not fall asleep. 4 Behold, he who keeps watch over Israel * shall neither slumber nor sleep; 5 The LORD himself watches over you; * the LORD is your shade at your right hand, 6 So that the sun shall not strike you by day, * nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; * it is he who shall keep you safe. 8 The LORD shall watch over your going out and your coming in, * from this time forth for evermore.

The psalmist sings this song of goodness and mercy of God, from whom our help comes. Of course, we know that there are times when God's presence can seem less than present, when we long for God's embrace and cannot sense it. However, I believe that we must cultivate our attention to the ways that God is breaking in to our everyday world - and more than that, it is only us that perceive that God is breaking in, for he is already there! [of course] The psalmist wonders for a moment from where help will come, but in lifting ones eyes to the hills, the psalmist remembers God, and remembers that God has done good things, that God has been there on the journey and sings this song of praise and glory for the Lord who watches over us, who is the shade between us and the sun, and is the warmth that we feel at night.

In order to build this awareness, we need to build up our practice of turning to God, of remembering God's help and God's presence in our lives day to day. We are not alone in this universe, and this is not a cold planet flipping through the reaches of the solar system, this universe is charged with the Spirit of God, and God's handiwork is all around us. Cultivating awareness of the gifts that God has given to us, and cultivating mindfulness will allow us to embrace the psalmist's prayerful song.

The Lord shall watch over your

going out and your coming in,

from this time forth forevermore.

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

The road is hard that leads to life: Matthew 7:13-14

Matthew 7:13-14 (NRSV)

13 "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. 14 For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Matthew was, perhaps, speaking metaphorically about the narrow gate, and the road that is hard that leads to life. However, it is surely true that getting ourselves off the beaten path has deep spiritual benefits. I think of the highways that we drive between cities here in the United States - they are wide, they are smooth, and with my Garmin GPS leading me onward, it is pretty easy to find where I am going. Setting out into the woods to hike amidst trees and rocks and thorns and wild animals is another thing entirely. I think also of the narrow roads in Florence, Italy, where I lived for awhile and the most amazing streets were the ones with terribly bumpy cobblestones and these streets would weave in and out, often depositing the walking pilgrim into an unknown piazza (square). I know that it can be tempting to stay on the wide and easy road, but whether we like it or not, we will all traverse roads that are hard. While I cling to my GPS and the Interstate highways when I drive from state to state, I imagine that the roads that lead to life are smaller, harder, and lead through gates that are narrower. Perhaps this means I should venture off I95, perhaps this means I should take on a spiritual discipline that is difficult for me even though it is not Lent, perhaps it means I need to find my hiking boots and get into the woods!

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Psalm 146: True happiness

Psalm 146 Lauda, anima mea

1	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.
2	Put not your trust in rulers, nor in any child of earth, * for there is no help in them.
3	When they breathe their last, they return to earth, * and in that day their thoughts perish.
4	Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help! * whose hope is in the LORD their God;
5	Who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them; * who keeps his promise for ever

"Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help!

whose hope is in the LORD their God."

As often as we may read the scriptures, pray, and go to church, it can become easy to place our hope in earthly things. Of course, this is quite natural, because earthy things are all around us, the government, the corporation that helps to bring power to my house, the trees which offer me shade, the birds that sing outside my window, the people who built my car to keep my family safe as we drive the highways and byways. We are surrounded by earthly things, and we rely on them, we trust them, we even may say that we have "faith" in them.

However, earthly things do fail, and then we are left with the sense (perhaps) of our hope being rattled and shaken. The world is full of beautiful things, and yet, we are all too aware of the ways that rulers, nations, corporations, and even nature can cause suffering and be deadly.

The psalm this morning offers another way of thinking. The psalm offers a song of praise for the Lord, and reminds us as we pray it that the Lord made heaven and earth and if we truly want heavenly happiness, we are to place our hope in God. For someone who's world is jammed full with the things of the world, this may sound insane - "I can't see God," "I can't sense God," "How can I put my hope in God?" However, offering praise for God, and entering into a place where we can experience the Glory of God will, indeed, embolden our hopefulness, and will offer us true happiness.

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Lantern for feet and light for paths

Your word is a lantern to my feet * and a light upon my path. ~Psalm 119: 105 While on a hiking trip in North Carolina with Outward Bound, the first day we left the bus that brought us to the woods and after sorting through our bags and stuff we headed out to our first campsite. We left at about 8pm and were hiking until at least midnight. Luckily, I had bought both a fancy headlight and a small "lcd" flashlight. We hiked through the darkness and chatted with our new friends and tried to avoid twisting our ankles and busting our heads on low-lying branches. Luckily, I carried my flashlight which I could point down the path and I had my headlight to bring light to my feet. In darkness, having just a bit of light can make all the difference. Likely, the writer of Psalm 119 had done his or her fair share of night walking, and knew the importance of having a lantern for one's feet, as well as a light for one's path. When walking along, we need to both see that our feet are properly set on the path, and also that we have a good sense of where we are going. Psalm 119 is a long hymn to the law and word of the Lord, which do provide a lantern to our feet and a light to our path. In the Hebrew scriptures, the law is not merely the rules and regulations for daily living, but also a great gift from God, a reminder that God's people have a particular role, and are to rely upon God - not on any human construct - for their trust and Faith. In our rapidly changing post-modern world, it may seem old-fashioned or out of date, but turning to Holy Scripture as our light and lantern makes a great deal of sense. Of course, many of us are out of the practice of knowing how to read, mark, and inwardly digest the scriptures - but a great place to begin are the Psalms. The Psalms were the "prayer book of Jesus" as well as the prayer book for 20 centuries of monastics and other church mothers and fathers. I pray that we may each find the light and lantern that God provides for us when we are in dark and rocky places. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. ~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Life is short, 9/11/01

All too often we are reminded that life is short. On this day, September 11th, most of us in my generation (and probably the generation older and younger), who were too young to remember Pearl Harbor, will most definitely remember this day 8 years ago. I remember well that I was speaking to the Middle School chapel at Episcopal Academy in Philadelphia and I was speaking about the power of prayer. A good friend of mine has a father who attributes the healing of his inoperable tumor to the prayers of those around him. I was offering this testimony as a way for students to think deeper than their usual skepticism and agnosticism about the power of God in our lives today.

As the chapel ended, the Upper School entered the chapel along with the Head of School and other teachers, and then announcement was made about the World Trade Center, the Airplane in Western Pennsylvania, and the Pentagon. The chapel was an appropriate place to be, and I am grateful that I taught at a school where the chapel was where we gathered for celebration, for worship, and for mourning. We took time for prayer and offered support to our students and faculty - some of whom had relatives who worked in the World Trade Center.

I remember well the strangely quiet, clear skies above Philadelphia on those days when we all looked to one another, flew flags in support of our common loss, and looked to find meaning in what appeared to be a hopeless time. May we remember the unity that we felt in those hours, and may we remember that life is short, so that we may Choose Life!

Life is short,
And we do not have much time
To gladden the hearts of those
Who travel the way with us.
So be swift to be kind,
And as we go,
May the blessing, the love,
the joy, and the peace
Of the Holy One
Who is in the midst of us
Be among you and remain with you
Always.
Amen

(adapted from the French Poet Henri Amiel)

He put a new song in my mouth - Psalm 40

"he set my feet upon a high cliff and made my footing sure"

Thoughts on the Psalm from this morning's Morning Prayer, Psalm 40...


While we are deep in the midst of the season of Pentecost, Ordinary Time, we are also always in a season of expectation, a season of Advent, a season of expectation. We are in a season of some unrest, .... unrest economically, unrest politically, unrest in the world situation, unrest in our hearts, unrest in our homes, in the mist of this ordinary season of unrest and expectation we are called to "wait patiently upon the Lord"....for the Lord will "lift us out of the desolate pit and make our feet sure."

God will provide, even, and especially, when we are in the midst of the pit, God will provide. Not only that, the story of our Faith is of a God who sends a Son, a God who stoops down to our desolate, ordinary level, who reaches down to us and cares for us, picks us up and "puts a new song in our mouths!"

Thanks be to God!

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey



Psalm 40 Expectans, expectavi

1 I waited patiently upon the LORD; *
he stooped to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the desolate pit, out of the mire and clay; *
he set my feet upon a high cliff and made my footing sure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God; *
many shall see, and stand in awe,
and put their trust in the LORD.
4 Happy are they who trust in the LORD! *
they do not resort to evil spirits or turn to false gods.
5 Great things are they that you have done, O LORD my God!
how great your wonders and your plans for us! *
there is none who can be compared with you.
6 Oh, that I could make them known and tell them! *
but they are more than I can count.
7 In sacrifice and offering you take no pleasure *
(you have given me ears to hear you);
8 Burnt-offering and sin-offering you have not required, *
and so I said, "Behold, I come.
9 In the roll of the book it is written concerning me: *
'I love to do your will, O my God;
your law is deep in my heart.'"
10 I proclaimed righteousness in the great congregation; *
behold, I did not restrain my lips;
and that, O LORD, you know.
11 Your righteousness have I not hidden in my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your deliverance; *
I have not concealed your love and faithfulness from the great congregation.
12 You are the LORD;
do not withhold your compassion from me; *
let your love and your faithfulness keep me safe for ever,
13 For innumerable troubles have crowded upon me;
my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see; *
they are more in number than the hairs of my head,
and my heart fails me.
14 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; *
O LORD, make haste to help me.
15 Let them be ashamed and altogether dismayed
who seek after my life to destroy it; *
let them draw back and be disgraced who take pleasure in my misfortune.
16 Let those who say "Aha!" and gloat over me be confounded, *
because they are ashamed.
17 Let all who seek you rejoice in you and be glad; *
let those who love your salvation continually say,
"Great is the LORD!"
18 Though I am poor and afflicted, *
the Lord will have regard for me.
19 You are my helper and my deliverer; *
do not tarry, O my God.

Harold Francis Carey - 1917-2009

My grandfather, Harold Francis Carey, died last week in Connecticut and my family gathered to celebrate a life well-lived and a person who loved deeply and who was, and will continue to be, loved deeply as well. It was a long journey from Richmond to Connecticut for us, and I had the honor, privilege and challenge of presiding at the service along with my cousin who is a Methodist minister. My grandfather was a man of many interests, talents, and gifts, and I miss him a great deal. One of his great loves (along with travel, sailing, music, his family, my grandmother....) was food - and I will be making pilgrimage to a donut shop tomorrow along with three of his great-grandchildren to partake in some good eating.

May he rest in peace and rise in glory!

His obituary appeared in the local paper where two of his children live, Addison County, Vermont:

from the Addison County Independent

Harold Francis Carey
NEWTOWN, Conn. — Harold Francis Carey, 91, of Newtown, Conn., died peacefully at home on Feb. 26. He was born September 25, 1917, the son of Wilbur Watson Carey and Bridget (Hughes) Carey.

He attended Danbury Teacher’s College (now Western Connecticut State College) where he met Ann, his wife of 66 years, and left to serve in the Army during World War II. After the war, he sold textbooks in the state of Washington before returning to Connecticut and opening the Carey Insurance Agency, which he ran until his retirement.

Family says he believed in living life to the fullest and shared his great love of nature through photographs, painting and stories. When his children were young, he took the family camping in New England and New York. In 1963 the family camped around the country, visiting national parks and traveling 10,000 miles in the car. In later years, he traveled to Italy, France, Canada and Ecuador. Until he was 75, he hiked in Austria, Switzerland, Scotland and Greece. According to family, he was equally comfortable skiing a mountain, sailing a lake, reading a book or eating good food, and the biggest joy in his life was spending time with his wife, Ann.

Harry is survived by Ann (Titsworth) Carey; his children, Sas Carey of Middlebury, Jason Carey and wife Carolyn of Cornwall, Julia Carey Petro of Briarcliff, N.Y., Joan Elizabeth Carey and her husband Andrew Baron II of La Plume, Penn., and Thomas David Carey and his wife Patricia Honan Carey of Westport, Conn.; and his sister, Marian Marinelli of Ridgefield, Conn. He leaves 11 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren

He was predeceased by his sister, Ruth Carey Favreau, and his brother, Arthur Carey.

A celebration of his life was held in Newtown, Conn., on Feb. 28, with his grandson Peter Carey and granddaughter Sara Baron officiating.

Memorial contributions may be made to the American Heart Association or charity of your choice.
___________________________________________________________

Here's Grandad obliging me by participating in a "magic show" a few decades ago...

Encountering the Mystery of God: Reading Stephen Cook's, "Conversations with Scripture: 2 Isaiah"

One of the brilliant teachers I was blessed to have in seminary was Dr. Stephen Cook, who is a wonderful Old Testament (Hebrew Scriptures) scholar, as well as a great teacher and writer (also, check out his blog HERE). He published "Conversations with Scripture: 2 Isaiah" this year and I have browsed it just a bit until this point. Being the final day of the year (at least in the Julian Calendar), and being that this is a day "off" (though occupied with watching children, cleaning the house, etc), I picked it up again. This book has a wonderful discussion and exposition of 2 Isaiah, the 2nd part of the book of Isaiah, a book of the Old Testament that (along with the Psalms) is quoted the most in the New Testament, and one that we hear often in the Christmas season. It is a good read, and Cook is brilliant in helping us to see this book with new eyes, not making the complex overly simple, but giving some "onramps" into this incredible text.

The "mystery" of God is central to 2 Isaiah, and Cook has helped me to encounter this "awe-ful" aspect of God in new ways, here is just an excerpt from the Introduction:

"Awe before Isaiah's God refreshes our reverence. It submerges the ego, paving the way for owning up to our frailty. It turns us outward from concern with self to the need and suffering for others, especially the poor and peripheral. As we repose ever more deeply in God's mystery, the Lord who is absolutely sufficient for our succor increasingly works through us to relieve others' brokenness. Simultaneously, the Holy transforms us into ever more reverent advocates of the natural world."

Just brilliant, thank you Dr. Cook!

~ Rev. Peter M. Carey

Steve says this is the Single Most Important Verse in All Scripture

John 1:14

It could be!

My friend Steve over at Draught-ing Theology has written a wonderful, concise reflection on John 1:14 (no, not John 3:16) and on the Feast of the Incarnation (otherwise known as Christmas). Do travel over and read his entire reflection HERE...I've posted a bit below ...

~ Rev. Peter M. Carey

From Steve at "Draught-ing Theology"

The Single Most Important Verse in All Scripture

OK, that might be overstating the case just a little bit, but John 1.14 is, despite what lots of signs at sporting events might argue, the most important verse in John's gospel.

The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood... (1.14a, The Message)

The ramifications of the Incarnation, the Word becoming flesh and blood, are enormous. The word John uses for flesh [and blood] is sarx, the same word Paul uses in those lists of sins of "the flesh"; the same that the Greek philosophers used when railing against the messiness of humanity.

That God (or any god for that matter) would deign himself to the messiness of flesh is radically unorthodox in John's time and place. While we might be very familiar with the great poetry of the prologue to John's gospel we can't forget how mind-shatteringly huge this phrase from 1.14 is. Read it all HERE.

http://spankeysblog.blogspot.com/

Remembering Thomas Merton who died 40 years ago

Thomas Merton's work and life became known to me at an important point in my own journey of faith. I have much to say about him and love so much of his work. I will blog more about him soon, but right now I am remembering this wonderful person who helped me to see some hidden richness in the tradition that is Christianity. Remembering him today with love and fondness.

~ The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Ordination of Yejide, Sven, Matthew and AnneMarie in Richmond, Diocese of Virginia, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church - 6 December 2008

St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Richmond, VA

Priests getting reading to help ordain

Priests looking holy

One of the newest four priests in the church!
Check out the cool stole!

William Placher, Rest in Peace and Rise in Glory

I just learned from the Faith and Theology blog that William Placher has died, he was a wonderful theologian and writer who I found to be so helpful in understanding some of the major strands of Christology. I just began teaching a course on Jesus Christ in which we will be using his book, "Jesus the Savior" as one of our major texts. He will be missed!

I am so sad to see him go, but happy for his next stage of the journey.

May he rest in peace and rise in glory!

The Rev. Peter Carey

Faith and Theology: William Placher

Dry times on the journey

The Old Testament reading from Sunday was Deuteronomy 34: 1-12 in which Moses and his band of 'not so merry' men and women and children finally (nearly) complete their journey across the desert. They have crossed the plains of Moab and Moses climbs up Mount Nebo, "and the Lord showed him the whole land." The Lord shows Moses the Promised land that had been dreamed of for those forty days in the wilderness. "This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying 'I will give it to your descendents'; I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you shall not cross over there." You may remember that Moses had disobeyed the Lord earlier in the journey, and so the consequence was that Moses would not make it to the Promised Land.

Moses was an incredible leader, and the stories about him, from the babe in the basket, to the burning bush to the plagues on Egypt, to the crossing of the Red (reed) Sea, to the many years in the desert, Moses is worthy of study, reflection, and prayer.

What is most interesting to me about Moses on this day, is his time in the wilderness, in those dry patches of the journey when most of the people around him were really having a tough time. Walking through the desert, leading the people using whatever charisma and enthusiasm that he could muster. In our own time today, a time of financial loss and uncertainty about the future, a time of political attacks and meanness, a time of rapid change, a time that is swirling with the pace of change and growth, a time when the chasm between wealth and poor is growing ever bigger - this is a time to take time to recognize that we may be entering a kind of desert place. We may, indeed, be entering a dry time on the journey. Our assumptions about many things are being called into question, and we may, like the wandering Israelites, need to bind ourselves one to another, and bind ourselves to God.

This is not a sentimental nor a simplistic notion, rather, the story of our ancestors can be instructive as we enter dry times - and there are stories, and spiritualities, and theologies that emerge from others' dry times which can aid us in even this dry time.

Turning to the desert fathers and mothers and their writings is one place to begin. Another, is to consider deeply the greatest commandment - and its implications:

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matthew 22: 34-46)

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Simplicity, simple living...a virtue whose time has come?

In the last week, two wise people have suggested in public forums that the economic downturn may, in fact, help us to reflect deeply on our lives (not without pain and stress) and seek ways to live more simply than we have been (at least in the "overly-developed" countries in the Global North!).

Is this notion something that Christians have to offer our secular society of consumption and frenetic activity?

What would it look like to live more simply?

What might we give up, in hopes of gaining that which is truly real?

~ Rev. Peter M. Carey

Politics of Fear...

I often wonder if we had been better served in these last years by a president who might have embraced something other than the politics of fear. Further, for this president who claims to be such an evangelical, I wonder whether he really has spent enough time with the scriptures, which seem to state, in no uncertain terms that we are to "Fear NOT"! The psalms reiterate over and over the fact that we are really only to fear the Lord, and Jesus was trying to lift his followers out of their own fearfulness and reactivity. Maybe these leaders should set down the Wall Street Journal and pick up the Good Book for 30 minutes before bed!

Many people are living these days in fear that is perhaps quite justified with the financial markets in such turmoil. It is a time for leadership, it is a time for realism, but it is a time to set aside fear .... we have seen worse times, and leaders sometimes rise to the challenge. I do hope our president does ... in the meantime, I can't but wonder what another president might say, and do...

~ The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Luke 4:14- 21: Good news to the poor, release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free

What would Jesus do?

From today's morning prayer readings, on the day of prayer and fasting for the Millennium Development Goals, no less. Jesus enters the synagogue, and the reading that opens for him gives a strident and courageous statement of mission and service. If Jesus came to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and freedom for the oppressed, it seems to me that followers of Jesus should also put these goals uppermost in our work and ministry. I pray that God helps us in these holy tasks, and also gives us strength and courage to accomplish them.

~ The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Luke 4:14- 21

14 Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. 15 He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. 16 When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: 18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." 20 And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 Then he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

The fields and courts are abuzz here at St. Catherine's School

It is the first day of pre-season practices for athletics at St. Catherine's, and the fields and courts and trails are abuzz with student-athletes, and coaches, and trainers all getting ready for the fall season. In addition, I have seen artists and dancers getting ready for the start of the year, and, of course teachers and administrators are working to get classrooms ready and lesson plans finalized before the start of school. There is a lot of positive energy around our beautiful campus this day, which marks the first "official" day that students are back for these activities. However, the summer has been an extremely busy one for those people who care for our campus, all of Bacot Hall has been vacated so that an incredible renovation project may commence, and those who take care of the grounds and buildings have been working diligently to care for this place. There is even a new "chiller" (huge A/C unit) in place to keep our spaces cool.

This is a great place to be, and a great time in a school community; the return of students and teachers, and the commencing of sports and arts and (of course) academics. I look forward to the year with a lot of positive Spirit and great anticipation. Enjoy these days of transition, and I can't wait to see everyone!

The Rev. Peter Carey

Just one of many reasons I love the Episcopal Church!

We've got some great bishops, and a growing number of them just happen to be women! Awesome.

Photo Credit: Susan Shillinglaw (vts) 2008

Photo Credit: Susan Shillinglaw (vts) 2008

Photo Credit: Susan Shillinglaw (vts) 2008