CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL An Episcopal Community in the Heart of Houston, Texas
SEPTEMBER 2015 CHRISTCHURCHCATHEDRAL.ORG
AFTER-HOURS EMERGENCY CARE LINE | 713-826-5332
Answering the call for support Hospital and home visits from the Cathedral bring comfort and blessing The birth of twin daughters was a double blessing for first-time mother Maria Hernandez. Delighted by her newborns and grateful for their safe delivery (a bit early at 36 weeks), she asked for a Cathedral priest to visit the hospital and bless Ellen and Elliana soon after their late November arrival. “It was a spiritual thing. I wanted God to be with them, to protect them and to keep
them healthy,” she said. Hernandez recalls how quiet and still her twins remained during the quick ceremony, which also blessed her as a new mother. “I felt that I was at peace and that God will hold my hand throughout this journey,” she said. Hernandez’s call to the church for support
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Youth ministers Jeremy Bradley and Christy Orman make a hospital visit.
Bolz-Weber, Karr to present new works The Bible is filled with strange and sometimes circuitous paths to faith. David is anointed while tending his father’s sheep to become King of Israel and Judah; Amos is called from dressing sycamore trees to deliver God’s prophecy; and Mary Magdalene is healed of seven demons to become one of the first to receive the good news of Jesus’ resurrection. Unfortunately, contemporary accounts of the onset of faith tend to fall into more predictable NADIA BOLZ-WEBER
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MARY KARR
Prepaid postage In 1848, General Zachary Taylor was fresh from his victories in the MexicanAmerican War when the Whig Party set its eyes upon him as a presidential contender. In an era of frequently rancorous and deadlocked political party conventions, Taylor was joyously and reTHE VERY REV. soundingly elected at BARKLEY the Whig convention THOMPSON in Philadelphia as the party’s candidate for president. But the general himself was not present; he was back at home in Baton Rouge, La., tending to his farm. Enthusiastic Whig Party leaders immediately dashed off a letter to Taylor, extending the offer and honor of the nomination, and they eagerly awaited Taylor’s acceptance. And waited … and waited. A second letter was sent, to which there was also no reply. Only after a third missive was sent (by which time some Whig Party leaders were rethinking their choice of candidate), did Taylor finally get the word of his nomination. You see, in the 1840s, virtually all U.S. postage was paid on receipt. General Taylor’s letters had arrived at his local post office with postage due, and because of a mix-up, the invitations kept ending up in the dead-letter box. So it was that Taylor almost missed becoming president of the United States due to a letter that got lost in the mail! In light of the Taylor incident and others, U.S. Postmaster General Cave Johnson introduced the prepaid postage stamp. From then on, if a sender wanted to ensure that a correspondent received a letter, package, or gift, the sender could pay the postage in advance. The recipient had to do nothing at all except receive with open arms whatever gifts were
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