Friends

When I was a young boy, my parents used to gather up us kids and travel with us over the mountain and across the Cumberland Plateau to the wide plains of farmland in middle Tennessee. There we would meet grandparents, aunts, uncles, great-aunts and uncles, and cousins of varying degrees. Some called this great gathering "homecoming," while others referred to it as "decoration day" since many would go to cemeteries (which appeared ancient to me) to lovingly trim grass and clean away debris from the headstones of their long-passed ancestors.

At homecoming, there was always a large table arrayed with some of the finest dishes that southern cooking could produce. We brought out old stores of family adventures and characters, mixed with new tales and visions of the future. I remember those times with fondness and a touch of sadness that the homecoming tradition has been lost in the shifting sands of American culture.

September at The Church of St. Mary the Virgin always brings to my mind and heart the feel of homecoming. We gather together after a summer of adventures to share old tales and new ones. We explore our visions for the coming year. And on Sunday School picnic day (this year, September 22nd), we put out tables and a big spread to celebrate the beginning of another year of learning and growing together.

This year, of course, homecoming will have a special aura of sad reflection, as we remember on September 11th those who died in the horror of last year's terrorist attack. Like the homecomings of my boyhood, this year's homecoming will be both sweet and sad.

As St. Mary's begins a new year of activities, I'm excited about the new commission structure that your vestry has adopted for energizing our programs. It has been a personal privilege for me to be a part of commission meetings that have sparkled with vision, fresh energy, and excitement about possibilities for ministry at St. Mary's. I am resisting the temptation to tell you what the Communications, Spiritual Nurture, and Outreach Commissions have up their collective sleeves because I don't want to steal their thunder! Suffice it to say that I have been impressed with the ideas and projects proposed by these and other commissions.

Whenever I step back and look at St. Mary's, I am awed at the crucial role we play in making Chappaqua a place where we can "love where [we] live," to borrow the Rotary Club's motto for this year,

Perhaps the neatest thing of all is that, rather than keeping a good thing to ourselves, we share the excitement and invite all people, no matter what race, nation, or even religion they may belong to, to join us in our ministry of the church, in the church, and to the church.

When Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive, he knew that no matter how much you and I give, the blessing in return will always be much, much greater.

So give yourself some time to join in our homecoming, as we remember those we lost last year, as we break bread around our altar and at the picnic tables, as we build the momentum of excitement that will energize us to do magnificent things for our children, for our community of faith, and for our neighbors in need.

Welcome home!

Joel t