Thursday

• Early morning weights and treadmill.
• Morning Prayer in the cathedral.
• Dealt via email to two thorny (which is to say, for delicate and difficult) pastoral/administrative matters. This took a while.
• In preparation to preach on the Sunday after Christmas (St Thomas', Glen Carbon), I identified a homily for that occasion from a prior year, and began the process of doing the sort of plastic surgery that is necessary to ensure that it is fresh and appropriate.
• Attended to some urgent and important Communion Partners business.
• Lunch from the prepared foods section at HyVee, eaten at home.
• Took a careful look at my Discretionary Fund to determine my capacity for generosity in response to a handful of gift requests from various entities that had been piling up. Like the Shunemite widow's containers of oil and flour, there always seems to be enough, for which I am very grateful.
• Made rail travel reservations for next month' Provincial House of Bishops meeting in Chicago.
• Responded by email to a reporter who wanted to know how recent events in the country and the world might impact my preaching on Christmas. The gist of my reply was: Not very much. Current events don't long stay "current." The human condition, and the relevance of the gospel to that condition, however, don't change this side of Eternity.
• Wrote two letters: One to the Presiding Bishop's office on a pastoral/administrative matter, and one to some lay people who were upset with one of my difficult decisions.
• Processed a handful of relatively minor emails.
• Attacked the pile of January clergy and spouse birthday and anniversary note cards. Got about half of them done.
• Evening Prayer in the cathedral.