Moving Diagonally

Morning Prayer in the cathedral. Walked down to McD's on South Grand for breakfast. Planned tasks for the day. Attended a conference call for the diocesan trustees and our new investment advisor, which lasted just over an hour. Met with the Archdeacon for our annual review conversation re his role as a member of diocesan staff. This evolved into a long talk covering a wide range of issues. Got started on refining and editing my homily for this Sunday (St Paul's, Carlinville. Broke away to attend Mass for the feast day in the cathedral chapel. Lunch from McD's, eaten in my office. Conferred briefly with Paige, for the purpose of getting her registered as a member of Episcopal Communicators. Ran an errand up to a downtown locksmith to get some extra office keys made. I'm now confident that I have insulated myself from the danger of being locked out of the building. Kept a scheduled 2pm appointment with an individual who is ordained in another denomination but w...

Wrote the last of my lectionary meditations for Forward Movement. This has actually been rather fun. Having the constraint of 220 words forces on to be creative. Took my developed notes for an Advent III homily at St John's, Centralia to the "rough draft" stage.  Lunched on my son's cooking--pork cooked in some sort of high-pressure device with a French name. It was superb. Took my daily constitutional, this time through nearby Rose Hill Cemetery. I used to enjoy walking through cemeteries when I lived in California and Indiana. They are at the same time calming, sobering, and interesting. Moved the ball downfield toward planning the clergy pre-Lenten retreat. Reviewed and annotated the draft minutes submitted by the secretary of last month's annual diocesan synod. Wrote an Ad Clerum about a small but significant liturgical issue. Attended to some personal financial chores. Took my wife and daughter to an early dinner at a nearby Indian restaurant. Pack...

A pretty standard work-from-home day. Churned out the second-to-last in my series of 30 daily office lectionary reflections for Forward Day by Day, to appear *next* November. Took a close look at some of the Mission Strategy Reports from our Eucharistic Communities and "discussed" via email with the co-chairs of the Department of Mission a strategy engaging and responding to the whole lot. Spent quality time with commentaries on the readings for Epiphany, in homiletical preparation for keeping that feast with the people of Trinity, Jacksonville. Scanned, categorized, and tagged accumulated hard copy detritus. Took a long walk as dusk was setting in. (I've been able to ramp up my exercise rate since the move to Chicago.) Prayed both offices, MP by myself and EP with Brenda.

... aaaand we're back. I've been dark in this venue during the long Thanksgiving-and-its-aftermath mini-season. Spent a lot of time with my family-of-origin and its extensions, as well as that iteration of family of which I am the paterfamilias. There is much to be grateful for on both fronts.  Today's agenda included responding to a slot of accumulated emails, doing some sermon prep for II Advent (St Bartholomew's, Granite City), a substantive phone call over a pastoral issue, reviewing an annotating the most recent statement for my diocesan credit card, plotting future actions for a special project that is dear to my heart, and touching base with Paige on a variety of things. In the midst of it all, I also did four leads of laundry.

Usual morning routine,. More email communication with Paige about an ongoing project. Responded to an email query from the chairman of the diocesan trustees. Attended at some length via email to a substantive emerging pastoral matter. Responded to an email request for an in-person appointment. Performed reconstructive surgery on a sermon text from 2000, retrofitting it for use on Advent Sunday at St Paul's, Carlinville. Lunched on leftovers. Reached out to a cleric in another diocese on a pastoral matter. Personal errands: Home Depot, Goodwill (the fruit of decluttering), and a haircut. Vigorous hour-long walk. Took a prayerful first pass at the readings for Epiphany, which falls on a Sunday this cycle. I'll be at Trinity, Jacksonville. Evening Prayer with Brenda.

Usual routine: Task planning over breakfast, Morning Prayer with Brenda in our "home chapel." Substantive email exchange with Paige about the next issue of the Springfield Current . A couple of personal (healthcare-related) "errands" done by email. Spent most of the remaining daylight hours writing my next-due blog post for Covenant. It's deep dive into what it actually means to be a bishop and to be a church that has bishops.  Once again, exploited the last 70 minutes or so of daylight for a vigorous walk.  Evening Prayer with Brenda. After dinner, worked on my homily for Advent III (St John's, Centralia), bringing it from "message statement" to "developed outline."

Up and out of our apartment at 0730. Arrived in Morton at 1020, well ahead of the regular 1100 Sunday liturgy at All Saints. Presided, preached, and received the reaffirmation of vows made by a man who had been confirmed at All Saints by Bishop Hulstrand in 1987. Enjoyed the customary post-liturgical hospitality, then headed back north, stopping in Bloomington for a late lunch. Arrived home just past 5:00pm.