Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, but it is not poor in hope.
I have been serving on The Episcopal Church’s Standing Commission on Anglican and International Peace with Justice Concerns (SCAIPJC) for five years. Our commission studies issues and areas of the world which provoke or are undergoing turmoil and unrest or worse.
As I watched the returns and waited for speeches from the two presidential candidates, I was looking for something hopeful—more than a simple victory of the candidate I favored. And it was in those speeches that I found hope.
In the past week I have taken several steps that I hope will facilitate this transformative process. First, I have appointed Karen Olson as Canon and Executive Officer.
When I am here, whether the weather is pleasant or not, my soul finds solace, my hope is renewed, and I recognize once again that the One I name as Holy is the giver of all this splendor. Do problems abound personally and for human society? Yes. Does life continue to present challenges to my faith, to my ability to have hope for human society? Of course.
I believe we are here because of the reality that we are all in this movement together to work out what it is to be the Church according to our best lights, our proudest moments, our fondest wishes and the fears we act out with again and in the presence of one another.
I feel both relaxed and energized and I look forward to taking on the work God calls us to do together, particularly the work of spiritual transformation.
Sermons and Statements
May 2008 Sabbatical Reflections
Reflections and Invitations to Transformation -- closing remarks at Clergy Conference, May 2008