Tuesday, August 19, 2008

RALLY DAY IS THIS SUNDAY, AUGUST 24!!        Don't miss all the fun at Rally Day - Sunday, August 24 after the 10:15 a.m. service. Fun for all ages and great food too! Thought for the Week: 8/18/08 Time's Up    Watching the Olympics brings lots of lessons, but the one that has struck me most is that moment of transition, the starting gun of the race or event in which they compete.  The athlete goes from the state of waiting tension to all-out effort in a mere instant.  An explosion of movement, speed, agility, skill and control dazzles us.  In our games, these folks become for a moment pretty much what God had in mind for human bodies to be able to do and give.  Wow.    I’m no athlete—no one has ever accused me of that!  But I observe with the highest respect the drive and self-discipline that has been the long necessary prelude to every athlete’s performance.  Each one has been given a body and potential that makes possible their art, but they have honed and refined their abilities and skills by hard work and intense mental and physical effort.  Potential is not enough, if you are going to get out of the stands and onto the field of play.    And after all that practice, that sweat and pain and effort and planning, there is that sweet and precious moment, before the starting bell, that hangs in the air with such promise and such hope.  And suddenly time is up, it is here, and every molecule of the competitor’s being is thrown into the effort.    There is a little of that for all of us, I hope, in this time of year.  Around the church house, like the school house, we have planned and worked to make a new year better than the last, and open up new vistas for the year to come.  We come to Rally Day—First Day of School, the New Season, whatever we call it—with our best hopes and expectations.  But they are not enough.    What every effort, including being the Church, requires, is the full commitment of our every resource, the explosion of all our potential in the all-out effort.  There is a self-giving and a sacrifice there that is mystical and divine and profoundly Christ-like.  Let us hold nothing back, and find in the race the fulfillment of all our promise.    Seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.  Hebrews, 12:1 Frank Fuller+

St. Mark's Chili Supper & Bazaar Thursday, November 6, 2008 Lunch: 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Dinner: 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. Shop 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. VOLUNTEER UNDERWRITE PHOTO ALBUM Treasure House   Feature of the week Original Art This unique Asian painting is beautifully set in a shadowbox frame. The Treasure House acquired it from an estate and it's ready for it's next home on your wall.  Visit the Treasure House, 805 North Street in downtown Beaumont or call them at 832-0253. HOURS: M-F, 10:30 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.   Quick Links Rector's Diary Archived, Thoughts for the Week Rectitude Daily Office All Saints' Episcopal School A Prayer for the Human Family - BCP, page 815 O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take awy the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Prayers for People