Saturday Respite

Today we are off from church stuff, and it's a relief after the busyness of the past few days. We've learned that one of the other houses on the property where we're staying has Internet, so we've come up here for a bit. It's a beautiful day, though windy, so I'm hoping to get some outdoor time. Tonight I'm meeting Susan Smith Griffeth and family for dinner, so that should be fun. I'll try to remember to take some pictures.

We've finally cracked the code here at STM and have figured out some of the underlying systems issues here. Everyone was putting there best foot forward, but we finally talked to some folks who've been here longer and they shared some of the church's challenges with us. It's been fascinating because we saw all the symptoms of the problems but couldn't quite pinpoint exactly what was going on. Although this is a church that I don't think I would fit into well, I think they're doing some great work here, and I respect what they're doing. I prefer more traditional worship myself, but I wonder if there's a way to combine some of what they're doing with more traditional worship. I don't know. I'll have to think about that.

Tomorrow we're going to 2 services and then two of us are going over to the other Episcopal Church for their Solemn High Mass. We heard the choir practicing the other night when we met with the rector of that church, and I could tell it will be a treat that should call up memories of singing at Sewanee.

I'm hoping to see my deer friend again before we leave Tuesday. Happy Weekend to everyone.