<div dir="ltr">Yes, happy feast of the Magdalene! Last night we celebrated the feast a little early at the House of Grace at SMM, with Evening Prayer and some snacks and wine. SMM is headed into the part of the rector search where the vestry meets with the candidates chosen by the search committee (a heavy slate of meetings for David and me!), so please do keep SMM in your prayers for her patronal (matronal?) feast. (Also, I arrived at church yesterday to lead Morning Prayer and preach, to find that Steve Rottgers was in attendance. Glad I didn't know beforehand I was going to be preaching in front of the Canon to the Ordinary. But it all went very well -- SMM's way of doing liturgy is wonderful; everybody who has a part to play does it very conscientiously and with maximal courtesy for their colleagues.)<div>
<br></div><div>Speaking of the House of Grace. I did pencil in the Bethel Chapter Ember Meeting for September 14, which is a Sunday afternoon. I see no reason why Bethel Chapter shouldn't meet the week before the Special GC, but while I was writing to say I can get time off to attend a September GC, I thought I'd mention it in case the logistics alter.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Love,</div><div><br></div><div>Lisa</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Jul 22, 2014 at 11:49 AM, Virginia Brown <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:mothervirginiadb@gmail.com" target="_blank">mothervirginiadb@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div><div><div><div><div>Good morning, everyone! Happy St. Mary Magdalene's Day! Today marks the anniversary of what we consider our first profession, when Cathy, Donna and I together committed ourselves to our Rule, and to whatever adventures the future might hold for us, having taken that radical step expressed in the Prologue, giving ourselves wholly, all we are, all we possess, into God's hands for God's purposes. We were together in Albuquerque, and to mark the occasion we each received one of the prototype Rivendell crosses I'd ordered a couple of weeks beforehand--the small pewter ones. We had little idea of what all this would mean--but we desired to live radically and faithfully as disciples of Jesus, friends of God and God's Reign.<br>
<br></div>A couple of notes to the letter I sent yesterday:<br><br></div>1. Some may well not have seen it at all, since it would have appeared as another contribution to the old "election needed..." email. Please do look at it, and please respond, today if at all possible, with which date(s) you could attend a special GC, September 19-20 or October 3-4, and whether you could attend all day Friday, all day Saturday, or both. I'd like to hear from everyone so we can see what's best for most and make a decision.<br>
<br></div>2. Also, regarding recent events and our feelings and responses: I do want to clarify something regarding concerns expressed about whether someone should have done something earlier on. As I see it, it's clear that everyone who was close enough to the situation to intervene did so. (All of us attempted to talk with Susie, and mostly were rebuffed or ignored.) Those who were not close enough, which is the majority of the Community, couldn't have done anything--they weren't close enough. All of us did the best we could with the information and opportunities available. So, at this point no one should be spending energy feeling guilty. Let's use our energy to move forward!<br>
<br></div>Much love, and a happy St. Mary Mag's Day, to all.<span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br><br></font></span></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">Virginia<br><div><div><br><br></div></div>
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