St. Mark's News

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September 2016

St. Mark’s News Volume 20/Issue 7

From the Rector The highlight of my sabbatical was, of course, the time we spent in Italy. But one of the things I enjoyed about our time at home was being able to watch Wimbledon. There are few sports that I watch on television. When Lance Armstrong was winning the Tour de France year after year (albeit by doping) I enjoyed watching the Tour. I like watching basketball and tennis, I like being at a baseball game, and there are some football teams (Seattle Seahawks) I cheer on even if I don’t much care for the game itself. And every four years I like watching the Olympics. In this Issue

Frank Bruni wrote a lovely op-ed piece on the Olympics for the New York Times on August 10. He said he had anticipated being cynical about the Games: “I was supposed to marvel at our talent for making messes, cutting corners, evading responsibility, procrastinating.” But instead, he found himself crying rather than shaking his head in disgust. He cried good tears when Michael Phelps defied his age and won gold medals; he cried because Simone Biles defied expectations and gravity; he cried when the “tiny wisp of a Brazilian girl floated onto the balance beam….” He said:

From the Rector ......................... 1 Vestry Highlights ........................ 2 Outreach .................................... 3 Parish Life .................................. 4 Christian Formation.................... 6 Caffeine Ministry ........................ 7 Parishioner Highlights ................ 9 Celebrations ............................. 10 ROTA ....................................... 11

Don’t tell me what’s wrong with the Olympics. Let me tell you what’s right with them. In a world rife with failure and bitter compromise, they’re dedicated to dreaming and to the proposition that limits are entirely negotiable, because they reflect only what has been done to date and not what’s doable in time. They make the case that part of being fully alive is pushing yourself as far as you can go. Every Olympic record, every personal best and every unlikely comeback is an individual achievement, yes, but it’s also a universal example and metaphor. You may ask, what does focusing on what was right with the Olympics have to do with the church or with St. Mark’s? We are in the midst of a Presidential campaign; a campaign that seems to me to be very toxic. There is anger and there is fear and there are vituperative insults being volleyed across the political net. As Christian people, how do we thoughtfully engage in the political process and care about our nation while at the same time maintaining the bond of Christian unity with one another? St. Augustine wrote that as Christians we have dual citizenship: in “the eternal City of God and the temporal City of Man.” It is our citizenship in the City of God that is meant to be primary while we keep in mind that our national citizenship is temporal at best.

Frank Bruni’s article reminded me of what St. Paul had to say to the Philippians: “Finally beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Phil. 4:8). May we choose not to be cynical. May we choose, instead, to weep in the presence of that which is lovely and inspiring. And may we heed St. Paul’s injunction to “think about these things.” EZT+

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