After our October 11 Consecration Sunday service, I was at the door saying goodbye to friends who had attended our service and were about to return to Texas. Most of you were already in Hansen Hall enjoying the brunch. I looked up and saw a man coming toward me and his appearance suggested to me that he was going to ask me for assistance. I thought, “This is really an inconvenient time.” How wrong I was!
The man had a bouquet of flowers in his hand. He said, “My wife and I have been visiting Jackson for the past week. She’s a cancer survivor and is out in the car. We’ve come here every day to pray and give thanks for her healing. If it weren’t for St. John’s, our visit would have been incomplete. Before we leave town, we wanted to bring these flowers as a way of expressing our gratitude. May I place them in the church?”
I had been writing and preaching about gratitude and generosity for weeks and here, before my very eyes, stood the incarnation of gratitude and generosity.
St. John's means so much to this community and to many of those who visit Jackson. I'm proud to be the Interim Rector. And it's one more reason I am Unapologetically Episcopalian.
I'll see you in Church!