Thursday

• Usual morning routine; MP in the cathedral.
• Processed a load of emails.
• Traveled out to Jacksonville with the Archdeacon to see his brother the jeweler. There are some beautiful items that were used by some of my predecessors and have been tucked away in various places. Now they are being rendered usable for special occasions, part of the living heritage of the diocese.
• We then kidnapped the rector of Trinity Church and had a nice lunch at Mulligans, on the square in downtown Jacksonville.
• Spent the rest of the afternoon completing the draft of a sermon for St Paul's, Alton on July 10. It came with a little more difficulty than I like, but that's the way it is sometimes.
• Drove out to Champaign to meet with the vestry of St John's Chapel. They are beginning their first pastoral interim in 35 years, so there was a lot to talk about. 
• En route I kept a phone appointment (remember my hands-free bluetooth; it's like talking to somebody in the passenger seat) with a dear long-time friend and former colleague who has taken one of the many variant paths that have become available to those who once journeyed together in the Episcopal Church. It is meet and right that we continue to minister to one another. For reasons beyond our understanding, we have been called to walk apart, which is an occasion of no small amount of grief. But there is no reason we ought not to be able to walk apart together. Indeed, few endeavors are more vital than finding a way to do just that.