Friday (St John of the Cross)

  • Morning Prayer in the cathedral.
  • Drove down to McDonald's for a breakfast sandwich.
  • Organized my work for the day.
  • Signed a raft of episcopal election consent requests, and one retirement consent request. Approved all save for one of the elections (but I'm quite certain the consecration will go forward nonetheless).
  • Reviewed a draft of the next issue of the Springfield Current. Noticed several items that needed attention and shared this with Paige just about the time she walked into the office. Took the opportunity to consult with her on another subject.
  • Reviewed a spreadsheet from Sue regarding needed hotel reservations for my 2019 visitation schedule. Filled in blanks as appropriate. (There are 19 overnights on Saturdays slated for the year.)
  • Edited, refined, printed, and scheduled for posting my homily for this Sunday (St John's, Centralia).
  • Used a 10-minute winder of opportunity to take a brisk walk around 2-3 blocks.
  • Kept an 11am appointment with someone in the early-ish stages of the ordination discernment process. It was an animated conversation, the sort of thing that's fun even for an introvert.
  • Lunch from McD's, eaten in the office.
  • Another brisk walk--down Spring to South Grand, over the 5th, and back up.
  • Met with a cleric of the diocese to assist that cleric in thinking though a personal matter.
  • Gave Paige another project to attend to between now and mid-January.
  • Yet one more walk--this time up 2nd to Capitol, east to 5th, down to Lawrence, and back over. This got me to my 10K step goal.
  • Prayed the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary in the cathedral. The windows along the geographic south/liturgical north side of the nave provide a superb visual aid for this devotion.
  • Took about 45 minutes to drill down on some personal income tax planning issues that spring from having relocated my residence to Chicago, which has created a quandary for our treasurer and accountants. It is becoming clear to me why tax collectors are so consistently vilified in the pages of holy scripture.
  • Devoted some time to a bit of early-stage logistical planning for February's clergy pre-Lenten retreat.
  • Attended to some more logistical planning, this time related to my visit to Nashotah House in January to see our three residential seminarians there.
  • Evening Prayer in the cathedral.
  • Dinner at the home of Deacon Tom and Elisabeth Langford--a lovely and gracious time.

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