Thursday, July 24, 2008

Outside Summer Eucharist: A time for celebrating!          Thought for the Week, 7/22 Adventurers    An adventure is what you decide it is.    Some of us may have Vikings or pirates of the Caribbean for ancestors, but most of us seem to have been leading pretty secure and placid lives.  At least by comparison with a lot of the world:  food in the fridge, some money in the bank, still some gas in the car, war a distant fret and frustration rather than a bursting IED in the street outside.  Not a bad deal, really.  We are blessed, and often not nearly thankful enough for it.    To the contrary, we often chafe because life seems too confined, predictable… and maybe we have even given in to the juvenile in all of us and said it out loud: “Boring.”    The answer to that, methinks, is not to go off on a wild jaunt.  That way lies the dark paths of middle-aged (or more) Crazy, red Jaguars you can’t afford, and much more hazardous creatures best not mentioned.    The healing of the mid-life (or mid-day) monster of boredom and envy is in the discovery that true adventure is in the ordinary.  Not the ordinary endured, but the ordinary consecrated.  Made holy by the discovery that when we step up to the vision our God has of who we are and what we are called to be, worlds are born and new universes burst into reality.    Sure, we can glom along, appearing to do the same old thing.  But if we know that our same old thing is the stuff of revolution in the lives of those around us, the subversion of the Old Wicked World, and the high and secret service of the True King and his coming, blessed new world—that is adventure.    Be radical.  Do something kind to somebody who doesn’t deserve it.  Be gentle to a postal worker who snips at you.  Find a good way to be outrageously generous.  Scare the Devil.  It will taste like Heaven.  For there is the home of the only real Adventure. Frank Fuller+

Treasure House   Feature of the week Sherlock Holmes This beautiful and complete set of Sherlock Holmes hardback books is now available at The Treasure House but not for long. Hurry down today. Visit the Treasure House, 805 North Street in downtown Beaumont or call them at 832-0253. HOURS: M-F, 10:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.   Quick Links Rector's Diary Archived, Thoughts for the Week Rectitude Daily Office All Saints' Episcopal School A Prayer for the Human Family - BCP, page 815 O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take awy the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Prayers for People