Moving Diagonally

Nice long and brisk walk in the morning on a well-traveled bicycle trail. I experienced the first stirrings of desire for a bicycle. Where might this lead? Participated in a scheduled substantive phone conversation wearing my Nashotah House board chairman hat. I think it went very well. Worked on some final remaining loose ends that had to be tied up before I can feel myself officially on vacation.  Since I was reasonably successful in the endeavor, I will now be "going dark" in this venue for the duration. Look for another post on August 6th, the Feast of the Transfiguration and my first day back in the office. Brenda and I will be enjoying a mix of "staycation" at home--catching up on household projects and a lot of reading, hanging out with our children in Chicago, and a rental in Nova Scotia (an old Anglican church, to be precise!).

Usual AM routine; MP in the cathedral. Met with the Chancellor and the Archdeacon to begin to lay out the broad strokes of a process that we hope will result in a complete re-write of our diocesan constitution and canons. It's exciting to have the opportunity to begin by thinking about mission, and then thinking about creating the infrastructure and governance that will serve mission, rather than the other way around. This meeting consumed the entire morning. Lunch at home. Leftovers. Attended to some administrivia items. Over time, the physical top of my physical desk tends to get more and more cluttered. On my last day in the office before vacation, it seemed appropriate to deal with the clutter, so I did. A clean desk awaits my return on August 6th. Reviewed my August Sunday visitation schedule and made a few notes. Composed an  Ad Clerum  letter to the clergy of the diocese, which will be sent out electronically on Monday. Friday prayers: Ignatian meditation on the...

Took Brenda and her canine ward, Lucy, up to the Episcopal Church Camp of Illinois session at East Bay Camp a few miles north of Bloomington. Archdeacon Shawn and Mary Anne Denney were there, along with Diocesan Administrator Sue Spring and her husband Dave, as well as a handful of parishioners from St Luke's in Springfield--all gathered to serve boxes of KFC chicken and goodies to three groups of hungry campers and counselors. It was a good visit to a much-beloved summer camping program for children and youth that has touched countless lives over a period of several decades. And how grateful we are for better (cooler) weather this year than the last couple. 

Morning Prayer in the car on the way in to the office. Debriefed with the Archdeacon on several pending matters. This was his first day back in the office following a two-week sojourn in Italy and Malta. Produced a working draft of my sermon for the feast of the First Sunday after the Bishop's Vacation ... which wil be kept at St Mary's, Robinson on August 4. Lunch from La Bamba, eater at home. Produced a first draft of a sermon for Proper 14 (August 11 at St John the Baptist, Mt Carmel). Processed some emails and wrote a couple of my own. Now I've added to somebody else's email processing workload. What goes around comes around. Scanned and otherwise processed a formidable stack of hard-copy detritus in my physical inbox. Evening Prayer ... once again in the car (it was late).

Weekly task planning at home. Morning Prayer in the cathedral. Spent most of the morning returning phone calls and processing emails. Spoke by phone with my ELCA counterpart, Bishop John Roth, regarding a matter of mutual concern. Visited Fr Shipley in the hospital. He's out of ICU, but still looking like he's feeling pretty miserable. Lunch from KFC, eaten at home. More emails and phone calls. Met with Fr Gary Goldacker, formerly of this diocese, more recently heavily involved in interim ministry, as he was in the area touching base with his Illinois roots. Produced and delivered via email a 700 word article for the quarterly newsmagazine of Nashotah House. Brief devotions in the cathedral; EP from memory to and in my car (it was already 6:00).