Today is the first Sunday Of Advent in many places in the Christian Tradition. I am serving in worship at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church today. The road to Christmas has begun for real. Have a great Sunday everyone.
Tonight, I attended my last meeting as a member of the Vestry of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. The Vestry is the leadership group in the Episcopal Church. For the last three years, I have served my parish during extraordinary times in our world and my own personal loss in 2019.
This experience has taught me a lot about how wonderful my church people are and how we come together to lead during the good and tough times. I will continue to serve in other ways but my time as a church leader has ended and I am grateful for the opportunity I had to do the good work of the church.
Here’s a few thoughts inspired by the day.
Take Time to Rest – Everyone needs a day to chill out and renew. Everyone seems to be overscheduled and overworked and that isn’t good. We all need at least one day where we can reconnect with ourselves, others and, to reset ourselves. If rest is good for the divine its good enough for me. Rest and recreation are given a bad rap and that shouldn’t be the case for anyone. Don’t look for things to do because certainly you will find plenty of stuff to occupy your mind and time. Busy is not good for anyone.
Power In Service to Others – So many people look for power and status that they fail to realize that power can be found in serving others. Our world needs helpers more than it needs bosses these days. To me, service can impact the lives of many and that is a powerful thing. Everyone in service to others has the capability to make the world a much better place and you know that is a special place to be in. Not to say that people in power don’t serve but if one is just interested in a position and not the responsibility then there can be a problem.
I hope you all have had a restful Sunday and that you are ready to serve in the coming weeks ahead. Grace and peace and love to you all.
As a church-going type person, I have sat through many digital worship services in these days of COVID19. Currently, my parish is meeting outdoors in-person to keep people connected yet safe. YouTube and Zoom have been instrumental in keeping many churches going and offering their parishioners the Word and Sacraments.
This graphic is a humorous take on watching church online. I do like the no parking, coffee, and relaxing in my pajamas but I would never ever mute my priest. He’s pretty good at sermonizing and that sort of thing.
No matter how you practice your faith I hope you have found a way to stay connected and to receive blessings from your spiritual community.
My church, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church observed this first Sunday of Advent this morning with my priest Fr. Quinn celebrating mass. Advent is an observance of awaiting the Christ child in the Christian tradition. A candle is lit every Sunday and on Christmas Eve before Christmas day.
The Tony Burgess Blog 