Tuesday

 Big rocks:

  • Attended a 2.5 hour meeting of about 50 bishops with executives of the Church Pension Group. There was no big breaking news. They're just seeing to their PR needs among the leaders of their constituency--not just doing the right thing, but being seen doing the right thing. CPG is a complex entity. Not only to they operate their core business, which is clergy and lay pensions, but they also run the health insurance plan for church employees (contracting with Blue Cross and CIGNA for plan administration), a property/casualty insurance company, and a publishing company.
  • Made substantial progress in the drafting of a pastoral letter to the diocese on the subject of financial support: parishioners of parishes, parishes of the diocese, the diocese of the "national church." Things aren't always as simple as they seem, and there's some serious theology involved. I hope have the letter live on the website sometime tomorrow.

Smaller rocks:

  • Wrote a congratulatory email to the bishop-elect of Chicago, in whose new backyard I will be planted as a retiree. I'm hoping for a good relationship.
  • Kept an appointment with my dentist to follow up on something suspicious they spotted on an exam three weeks ago. I have a referral to an oral surgeon.
  • Processed new emails as they arrived. I'm a little bit compulsively attached to "inbox zero."
  • Took Brenda on a long walk because some work on the gas lines in our basement was sending her into an agitation zone.

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