On the Road Again

Okay, I feel this is obligatory.



Well, now that's out of the way.
In any case, it has been a little bit since I posted up a substantial post, and I think it will be a few days before I write anything really solid for the blog; still, I wanted to give my good readers an update on my present whereabouts and activities. I am done with my internship, having preached one last time at St. James Church, Las Cruces this past Sunday.
The last two or three weeks of my internship were quite intense with lots to do, and some of it still to be done. I had to write a sermon, visit a church in El Paso, and get my apartment deep cleaned before leaving. Also, I had to finish putting my various projects in order, including finishing up the Altar Guild Manual, Customary and Pastoral Care Manual for St. James (I was revising the first two, and composing the last. Next year's intern will pick up where I left off).
I am still processing all the things that happened during the internship, but it was a really great experience, and I think it is one of the best things I have done for my formation as a seminarian so far.
I made new friends, and I learned a lot just from talking to different rectors, and even a couple of bishops, including Bishop Lamb, the retired Bishop of Northern California, who was serving as interim rector of one of the parishes I visited.
I was reminded numerous times during the internship of my weakness and God's strength, and I am very grateful for that.
It has also given me a lot to think about as I process what is going on in the Episcopal Church. I don't write about that much on this blog, mainly because I think there are plenty of Blogs that deal with TEC/ACNA politics already, and do a better job than I possibly could. I am, however, painfully aware of the storms raging within the Anglican Communion right now, and all of us within TEC have to deal with the present troubles as best we can.
I will say that the Diocese of the Rio Grande is much more liberal leaning than my home diocese of Albany, although I was in an evangelical parish. I have spent my whole life in conservative dioceses, so it was eye opening to talk with more liberal leaders. Amongst other things, it convinced me that most of the "two gospels" rhetoric which comes from conservative Anglicans, and which I have even employed from time to time, is overblown.
I will probably have more to say about that at length.
For now though, I am a bit to tired to right about such deep subjects. I set out from Las Cruces yesterday, and stayed in Albuquerque for the night. Right now, I am sitting in a Starbucks in Amarillo, TX. I am probably going to stay here (in Amarillo, not Starbucks) for the night , even though I would like to get further, but I am afraid I am just so tired that pushing myself would not be a good idea. Besides, there are not a lot of big cities between here and Oklahoma City, and I am not sure how long I would have to drive before I found a good motel. Anyway - more updates to follow.
Pax Tibi