10 Reasons Why I love Being Episcopalian

Having spent a large portion of the day at the National Cathedral for the glorious celebration of the consecration of The Rt. Rev. Shannon Johnston, our new Bishop Coadjutor, I just wanted to share a few of my thoughts on why I love our Church.

(These are not all the reasons, or necessarily the most important reasons, or in any kind of order... but here we go.)

1. Women can be priests. Presiding Bishops even. When I was a kid, it wasn't true. Of course, when I was a kid, I had no idea I was ever going to be a priest!

2. It's a family! Being part of a larger communion means there is always someone else. There's nothing like being one priest in one baby congregation, but showing up for an event like this and knowing and greeting literally hundreds of other priests and lay people from around the diocese. Old friends from churches I've worshipped in. People I know from committees and commissions. The love is thick. They are as excited about our ministry as I am about what God is doing in their places.

3. Amazing processions (This was only about 1/4 of the total procession into the cathedral.

4. The Cathedral. It's the National Cathedral. A house of Prayer for all People. But it is ours - Episcopal. I'd like to think our churches are all that way. Houses of prayer for all people. Places to meet God no matter who you are.

5. Cool hats (That's my husband Chris in a biretta)

6. Great music in all different styles. St. Gabriel's style is a lot different than most of the music we heard at the cathedral today, but I love the richness.

7. Variety and Unity. People who can have different ideas on various theological and social issues all praying and singing and taking communion together. I'm made richer my friends and colleagues to the right and left of where I stand.

and of course

8. The Father (God Almighty)

9. The Son (Jesus Christ our Lord)

10. and The Holy Spirit (The Lord, the Giver of Life)

Without this Trinity all our pomp, processions, and presiding bishops wouldn't make a hoot of difference. But it is because each of us has found life and purpose by aligning ourselves with God's purposes to reconcile the world to himself, that we enjoy sharing our joy by bringing out our best for God.

Lessons from a Cactus

Early in May, I was out in Phoenix teaching at the Episcopal Church's Start Up! Start Over! congregational development seminar, and I had some free time to go hiking in the desert.

The saguaro cacti were fascinating (Those are the kind that can look like cowboys with their hands up)... They grow so tall! I learned that they can live to be over 200 years old and don't even begin to grow branches until they are over 50 year old!

While my friend Lydia and I were hiking I noticed how several of the saguaro had been damaged. Arms were broken off. Flesh was scarred. Sometimes they'd been hurt by forces of nature; a few had probably been harmed by vandals. For the most part, however, the cacti were still alive, just bearing scars.

One particular cactus really caught my eye. Two of its arms were broken, but not completely broken off. Then over the years, the arms had curled back up toward the sun, obviously still receiving nutrients and water. When I saw it, it was even beginning to flower. (Hard to see with the image I got with my camera phone)

Of course, to me, this just seemed to be another sign of God's redemptive power. You and I are often broken. The winds and storms of life tear us down. Sometimes others hurt us as well. But as long as we can stay connect to the "whole", we can still receive the water of new life, and continue to bear fruit.

For Christians, that "whole" is Jesus. As Jesus said, "I am the vine and you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me, you can do nothing. (John 15:5) When we stay connected to Christ, and in the body of Christ, even when we are scarred and beat up, God can help us grow again, and even blossom beautifully.