Wednesday (Thomas Ken)

I'm always amazed and grateful when a travel day goes smoothly; there's so much that could go wrong. And it was a humane schedule: My shuttle left Camp Allen at 10am, depositing me at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport two hours ahead of my 1:30 scheduled departure, affording an opportunity to visit, over Texas BBQ, with Bishop Michael Curry of North Carolina. My flight left on time and landed in St Louis slightly ahead of schedule. The shuttle from the Hilton Garden Inn arrived promptly; my car was right where I left it a week ago, and in good shape. The drive to Alton was uneventful, and Fr Boase was waiting for me curbside at St Paul's. He drove me to his home, where I freshened up and changed clothes. I was in the nave with time enough to actually do some praying before Mass. Visiting with parishioners during the soup supper was a delight, and my presentation (part 4 of 5) went, I think extraordinarily well. The drive home was smooth, I didn't get drowsy, and I arrived just before 10. God is good.

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