From the Rector…
Every morning as I am getting ready to come to the church, Banshee wanders into the hall, lays down on the rug, and waits. She knows that if she is in the hall, she can’t be left—or at least she can’t be ignored—when I am heading out the door. Banshee loves to come to church and does everything in her power not to be left behind.
I am not sure what it is about church that Banshee is so drawn to though I think more than anything it is the people. Sure, many of the folks Banshee knows at church give her cookies and pats on the head—but I think she simply likes being around good people and that is exactly who Ascension’s people are—good people.
I have heard it said that you can tell the kind of person someone is by the way they treat a dog. I’m pretty sure that is true—and I know Banshee knows that is true. Camille gives her cookies. Janet gives her cheese. Anne pats her on the head and coos over her. Tracy always has a treat in her desk. Octavio laughs at her as she races up and down the hallway. The ADS kids taste good. This place is filled with people who are kind and caring and know how to treat one another in ways that lift their spirits and bring joy.
Banshee’s experience of Ascension is the same experience extended to all who come to this place—friend and stranger alike. People care about one another in the church and out in the world. We don’t have to come to Ascension to know that, but when we are here, we are reminded of that love and generosity of spirit. It is reinforced to us and in us so that we are strengthened and refueled to share it with the world.
There is something about being in a place of love. The world can be a dim place—distracting us from that which is good and true and beautiful. But in this place, we are surrounded by beauty and goodness. We hear truth reverberating from the walls of stone that have been witness to our worship and love of God and one another for more than a hundred years. We are offered an opportunity to sink into the depths of the Spirit and refill our cup so that it runneth over and spilleth out in the world. We are given time for rest and reflection and renewal week after week that we might remain God’s people and bearers of the Good News that there is something more, something worthy of this life we have been given.
I think Banshee knows a little of what that life can be and the desire to be a part of that life drives her to sit in the hall, blocking my path each day so that she can soak up the Spirit in this place. Come to church—on Sundays or Wednesdays or any other day of the week. Soak up the Spirit and be a part of its great joy and witness to this place, to our neighborhood, to the community. Its not because we have to or even because the devil might get us if we don’t—do it because by reconnecting with one another we are living into the gospel call of Jesus—we are living into relationships.
Light and Life,
Candice+
P.S. This Sunday is Blessing of the Animals at 10:30am. Banshee requests that you bring your pets and a lawn chair and come celebrate all God’s creatures on the front lawn.