President's Blog

As the final darkest days of the year draw around us and Advent comes to a close with Jesus’ birth, I found myself lingering over this wonderful prayer by Mary C. Earle in San Antonio, Texas from Lifting Women’s Voices:

O Come Emmanuel

O come, O come Emmanuel
Come now to us, in your many disguises
Come now to us, in every language
Come now to us, in every culture

Come now to us, in every color
Come now to us, that every moment may be pregnant with your advent
Come now to us, that we may breathe and labor and deliver you
Here, now, in our midst and in our souls
And let us say:  Amen.

May the baby Jesus live in your soul this Christmastide and for ever-more.

Not long after my wife and I joined our church here in New York City (now nearly 18 years ago), I remember being stunned during the annual stewardship campaign when fellow members came to the lectern to give personal, and many times emotional, testimonials about how giving transformed their lives.

My wife, who was raised as a Baptist, reacted along the lines of “It’s about time!”  My own upbringing as a cradle Episcopalian—and I mean this literally, as I was baptized at Episcopal Divinity School where my father was a seminarian—had not prepared me for the open conversation about money.  I just looked at my shoes.

One Sunday, a tall and beautiful member of our parish stepped to the lectern to speak.  I didn’t know the woman well, but I’d certainly noticed her (who wouldn’t have?).  I decided this time I wouldn’t look at my shoes.

She told a very affecting story of how giving to our church had transformed her life and ended with this line: “Don’t just give until it hurts, give until it doesn’t hurt anymore.” 

That sentence has stayed with me ever since, because it gets at a fundamental truth about giving.  The more you give (and I don’t mean necessarily money), the better you will feel.

It turns out that science backs this up.  An article in the Health section of the New York Times on Tuesday describes how helping others actually leads to biological changes that increase emotional and physical well being:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/health/01well.html?emc=eta1

It ends with a wonderful quote from Dr. Stephen Post:  “To rid yourself of negative emotional states you need to push them aside with positive emotional states.  And the simplest way to do that is to just go out and lend a helping hand to somebody.”

In what ways are you sharing your gifts with others during this season of giving? How is it making a difference in your life?

Each morning, while my daughter is still asleep in the early hours of Anaheim’s sunshine here at the Episcopal Church’s General Convention, I am leafing through Lifting Women’s Voices: Prayers to Change the World, a collection of wonderful prayers written by women from around the world.

Today, my eye and heart rested on this prayer by Mimi A. Simson from Santa Barbara, California:

For Those Living with Poverty and Hunger

Our Loving Creator God,

We bring before you this day
the burden the whole world carries
as it endures extreme poverty and hunger
in every land.

Stretch out your loving arms, we pray,
to embrace the suffering women, men and children
whose bodies, minds and spirits are shrinking
before our very eyes.

Help us to look, really look,
with clear eyes and open hearts,
to see the pain and hopelessness
in their bewildered eyes.

Kindle within each one of us
a flame of love and purpose,
and then

Enable us to channel our love into action
in every way possible
and impossible.

For this we pray.  Amen

To order a copy of this wonderful collection, contact EBaR @ 800-903-5544 or http://www.anthology.com/EPISCOPALRESOURCECENTER/wc.dll?main~di~&vt=_2OT0OEPD6&idx=2OT0O91US&idc=1&idi=I24192&ids=207&idd=2&pn=1

As we mark the 40th day after Easter, I turn once again to Christina Rossetti for inspiration.

Her poem, “Ascension Day” describes Christ’s ascension into heaven and speaks of the grief of his Apostles left behind and their desire to be with Him. Yet they turn to the work that Jesus has called them, indeed all of us, to do. In Rossetti’s words:

They do His Will, and doing it rejoice
Patiently glad to spend and to be spent:
Still He speaks to them, still they hear His Voice
And are content.

If only we all could do His Will in patient gladness. How would that change the world?

The Bucintoro Returning To The Molo On Ascension Day, Giovanni Antonio Canal Canaletto

Once again I turn to Christina Rossetti to guide me through the journey of Holy Week.  I share this lovely poem, “St. Peter,” with you:

St. Peter once: ‘Lord, dost thou wash my feet?’—
    Much more I say: Lord, dost thou stand and I
    At my closed heart more rugged than a rock,
Bolted and barred, for thy soft touch unmeet,
Nor garnished nor in any wise made sweet?
    Owls roost within and dancing satyrs mock.
    Lord, I have heard the crowing of the cock
And have not wept: ah, Lord, though knowest it,
Yet still I hear thee knocking, still I hear:
    ‘Open to me, look on me eye to eye,
That I may wring thy heart and make it whole;
And teach thee love because I hold thee dear
    And sup with thee in gladness soul with soul,
And sup with thee in glory by and by.’

In what ways is the Lord knocking on our closed hearts?

When we open them we “sup” with Him in gladness.  Open your hearts this Holy Week and Eastertide.