I really do love what I do, not because it’s a great job, but because I feel called by God to do it. There are just some things in this life that the Good Lord Himself plans for us to do, and when we find them and then do them, our lives really sync-up…after all, we are doing exactly what we were made for! A shoe, for instance, though it may work as a hammer to drive a nail into a wall, in reality is just a shoe and not a hammer. A hammer is a hammer and it works better because driving nails is exactly what it’s made for. Too often I see people in this life with no awareness of their purpose. It’s sad too. Life is so much better (and effective) when we listen for the voice of the Lord and allow Him to guide us to our call. I am thankful each and every day that I have found mine.

Of course being a priest on medical leave and not being in Church today (my second week in a row) is driving me nuts! If patience is a virtue, it is a virtue I appear to have very little of! Fortunately for me however, being a priest is a lot more than a worship service and being in Church on Sunday. (just as being a Christian is not defined by that either) Don’t get me wrong, I believe it is VITALLY IMPORTANT to belong to, and go to a Church, but “getting it” as a Christian means coming to the understanding that going to Church is for the Lord and not for you….we go to Church to recharge our spiritual batteries and support one another so that we can go out and do the important work…….so that we can be the Lord’s disciples to the world around us.

Today Bishop Ames sent over Father Kelly Irish, from Madison, Ohio to both preach and celebrate at our two Sunday worshipping missions, St. Anne’s in Anderson and St. Patrick’s in Noblesville. (Yep, they all have their own names now!) Kelly is a longtime and close friend, the godfather of the kids, and the priest who actually married Amanda and me. (It’s his fault Amanda and not mine!! I was getting a deal!!) Unfortunately, Kelly could not make it into town to do services in Nashville last evening. It was his in-laws’ 50th Anniversary this weekend, and he had commitments through late yesterday afternoon. Actually, he had commitments all through the weekend, but both he and his wife Marie thought is was important to have him be with us here. It has been great to see him, and comforting to know that he was there at the two missions today! When we were both impoverished grad students in seminary over 20 years ago I could pay him off with a McDonald’s coffee…..I am guessing this however may warrant an actual dinner for sure!

This break I am taking (the medical leave) is, and has been good for me, and I can tell. The fact that my friends (including Kelly and our Bishop) are willing (and insistent) about coming to help us out reflects the new reality we are living in these days as a Church that is part of the Conservative Movement. Bishop Frank Lyons of Bolivia always talked about creating a new DNA, and Bishop Ames speaks of creating the new DNA often as well. These clergy coming in from ong distances to help cover for me is a great witness to the new DNA too. In this new paradigm, we care for each other and we pray for each other, and we even carry each other when we need to, not because we have to, but because it reflects who we are. That is NOT the reality of the church I was used to, but thank God it is the reality of the Church we belong to now…..the Church that all of us belong to now too! It indicates, to me at least, that our future looks very bright!!

I am thankful for the clarity of God’s call that has led me to this place and in this time, and I am thankful for those of you who also faithfully follow the Lord’s path along with me. But as He Himself has reminded us, “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” As we look around, clearly we have a lot of work yet to do…..

But more than anything, I am thankful we are walking along and doing it together. It’s what the Lord wants from and for us, and the best reflection of all that we are “getting it!”

God bless you my friends! I will see you all (how about in Church?) very very soon!

Tom+