June 10, 2025
From the Rector… Last week, I had the privilege of participating in The Best Cursillo Ever! At least… until the next one. One of my favorite parts of Cursillo is the rollos—short talks offered by both clergy and laity on core Christian themes such as faith, piety, study, action, and community life. These talks are deeply personal, often […]
April 8, 2025
From the Rector… Almost every day, I see someone from our neighborhood sitting on a bench in the grounds or wandering through one of our gardens. It’s always a beautiful sight and reminds me of the gift Ascension has been given to share with our neighbors and the community. We may take the beauty and […]
January 28, 2025
From the Rector… I will admit, I am a summer kind of girl, but last week’s snow days were perfect. The staff and I came to work Tuesday morning to finalize preparations for the annual meeting, and then I spent Tuesday afternoon and all day Wednesday lazily in front of a fire playing with the Tweedles […]
January 7, 2025
From the Rector… Over the holiday, I read Tap Code by Smitty Harris, which recounts his life in the Hanoi Hilton and surrounding Vietnamese prison camps, as well as his wife’s struggles in raising their children and ensuring their financial security during that time. It is a fascinating read and I highly recommend it. The […]
December 17, 2024
From the Rector… The other week, as I sat in the lobby of our New Orleans hotel, I noticed how happy people were while taking pictures of other people. Not one person holding an iPhone and focusing on someone else was scowling or fussy. Even the stressed-out parents and the grumpy granddads changed their attitudes […]
November 5, 2024
From the Rector… Just breathe. There is a lot of anxiety and fear in the world today—I don’t need to point out the obvious. This fear and angst often cause us to unconsciously hold our breath. Researchers believe we do this to prepare our bodies for a fight-or-flight response to whatever we perceive as a […]
October 29, 2024
From the Rector… Bill Gamble, a friend of mine and an attorney in Selma, AL, claims that the word “politics” can be broken down into two parts that contribute to its definition: “poli” meaning “many” in Latin, and “tics” referring to blood-sucking creatures. I think most of us would agree that this definition seems to […]
September 24, 2024
From the Rector… Getting old is hard. I watch our almost 17-year-old dog trying to navigate her daily life, facing the challenges and struggles of each day. Where she once bounded up the stairs, showed strong resistance to anything she didn’t want to do, barked at the top of her lungs, and ran and played […]
September 10, 2024
From the Rector… At the football game on Saturday, three helicopters flew over the field at the end of the National Anthem. Though none of the three were around in the Vietnam War, their presence connected me with my father in a way I had never truly appreciated before. I had a sudden, overwhelming realization […]
September 3, 2024
From the Rector… Watching Katie Ledecky swim the 1500 meter free in the Olympics a few weeks ago was inspiring. The 1500 meters is thirty laps of a 50-meter Olympic size pool or about 66 laps of a 25-yard swimming pool. As I watched Ledecky swim, I was mesmerized by her stroke count, breath, and […]