Wednesday, July 07, 2021

"Don't Freak Out"

“Welcome to Florida!”

I have heard this sardonic comment a lot in days leading up to the arrival and passing of Hurricane, er, Tropical Storm, er, rain-event Elsa last night. Of course, in the run up to the storm, your parish lay leadership and staff did what they were supposed to do and showed me the process for caring for our church property and our parish members during what could easily have been a major storm. I was so impressed that everybody seemed to know their jobs and went about them with a minimum of fuss.

A local meteorologist on a local television station repeated over and over again to folks in the run up to the storm the following advice: "Don't freak out." Good advice. I could hear Jesus saying this to his freaking out disciples as their little boat crossed the lake that stormy night long ago.

Most important, what I saw at St. John's was baptismal ministry at it’s best: followers of Jesus following Jesus by calling upon the gifts of the Holy Spirit to do the Father’s will.

It turns out the storm, thanks be to God!, was kind of a nothing-burger (at least in our area). But the people of God at St. John’s were ready for the worst because they went about their work of learning and doing the work of Jesus --taking nothing for granted; working in a calm, collaborative, and prayerful way. And that, my friends, will get us through any storm! 

From the "Priest in Charge" column in this week's e-newsletter at St. John's Episcopal Church, Clearwater, Florida.

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