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Bishop's
Notebook
Eve of Thanksgiving, 22 November
(Cecilia)
We will gather at my sister's again this year for the great feast.
We always try to bring some food but there's never much room on
the table for it. You can count on that.
The
big push for Brook, Clara, and me will be to get up to Fort Drum
the next day to be with Dave and Bev Scheider, Sean and Kim Wead
and their families. This is something we didn't count on since a
trip to the Far East had to be postponed. We had intended to be
with Jere and Ruth Ann Hinson in Okinawa, and with Fr. Manny Querido
in Guam, about the time we will now be driving through the latest
snowfall in Watertown, New York. It's great that we will be with
other members of our Episcopal family, but as my wife will tell
you, I'm not a delight to be with when an itinerary changes.
These
kinds of changes aggravate me. When I was in Infantry OCS at Fort
Benning, Ga. the tactical officers used to make changing the routine
a "regular " part of life. Without warning you were ordered to change
your bunk, move duffle, and get yourself reorganized. When I was
an instructor with the Rangers, the SOP was to jostle a platoon's
chain-of-command. The overall intention was to learn flexibility
and the ability to function with multiple alternatives. However,
I recall one officer advising that the real lesson learned was "to
always count on yourself." I never took that advice because it ignored
the teamwork that flourished in the midst of all that confusion
and change.
There's
plenty to be thankful for if you have the eyes to see.
Earlier
this week we went to hear Clara's second grade class sing in a "Thanksgiving"
chorus for her school. One song had been revised from religious
origins so that it could be used in public schools. The different
lyrics had the kids thanking "summer" for vacation fun and "winter"
for frolicking with skates and sleds. The absence of God made the
song quaint, not moving, despite the earnest, cherubic voices.
When
thanksgiving has no direction it has no voice.
In
the Daily Office lectionary (Lk 17: 11-19), one leper of ten who
is cured returns and thanks Jesus. Our Lord commends his entrance
into wholeness and that his faith has made him well. His "faith"
brought him to see that thanksgiving moves from blessing experienced,
to thanksgiving conveyed, to praise expressed.
A
faithful life brings it all together and even to my fits over changes
to a travel schedule.
Happy
Thanksgiving to all, you will be remembered at our table. +gep
Bishop's
Notebook
17 November
Today
we had a delightful visit from Bishop Charles L. Keyser while he
was in town to witness the adoption of his latest grandchild, Carlos
Lovett Keyser. Chris Keyser, who stayed back in New Jersey to assist
her daughter Katherine (the new mother), is also well and has joined
an investment club. The Bishop says that he and Chris are so busy
that Palm Pilots are the only way they don't tangle calendars. Our
Office sponsored a reception on the sixth floor for the Bishop,
to which old friends came, munched finger food and greeted him.
It was nice to reconnect as well as brief him on some of the new
projects we have undertaken.
In
addition to being an Assisting Bishop in Florida he has accepted
the temporary assignment as Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, New
Orleans. He expects this job to last about a year. We've asked him
to secure a really big deanery for out-of-town guests during Mardi
Gras!
The
attached sermon is from my time in San Diego over the Veteran's
Day weekend. +gep
Sermon
given by The Rt. Rev. George E. Packard
12 November 2000
Evensong, St. Paul's Cathedral, San Diego, CA
We
gather to remember those who have served in the Armed Services in
the midst of a drama only this country could produce. I'm talking
of course about the uncertainty of the presidential election results.
I
have a Russian colleague, Sergei Melnikas, who is visiting this
country with his family. Sergei and I have served on a team to place
a chaplaincy in the Russian military, re-establishing what was once
present in the ranks before World War II.
He
has marveled -- as most of his countrymen -- that such an American
vote has been rendered inconclusive and yet the stability of our
government is maintained.
When
I was in Russia this past August visiting Bishop Savva, the new
bishop for federal ministries, the submarine Kursk sunk a day's
cruise from her home port. What followed was a dizzying time when
the government's statements were elusively optimistic. Said a man
to me in Red Square, "We don't expect character from our government."
It
is unfair to hold a foreign land in comparison to the U.S., a practiced
democracy. No, maybe we are fortunate to be blessed these days,
yet again and again, for it is not the ingenuity of our democracy
which has made the difference, it has been the state of our individual
and corporate character and God's blessing upon it.
In
Romans 13:1-10 there is an acknowledgement of the necessity for
government, (Paul takes Jesus' illustration in the Gospel lesson
(Mark 12:13-17) one step further) after all, we live in a social
world demanding organization. What is incumbent upon us is how we
live inside these social creations.
There
is only one imperative, "to do what is right", says verse 3 of the
13th chapter. That course in life results in righteous living, or,
"character". But what is "character" really? For Paul it is associated
with the debt we should always have as outstanding: to love one
another.
Outstanding
character is never to be exactly and completely fulfilled; it is
really not a state of life finally achieved, but a condition of
life always to be in.
Tony Firak was a machine gunner in my platoon in Vietnam who tried
to correct his jammed weapon and in doing so caught enemy fire in
the chest. He lingered some but we all really knew he was dead in
that ambush site.
Sacrifices
like that seem so far away from this moment and an examination of
"character" as a description for life. Usually we focus on one's
last words or, their last minutes before death. Perhaps those who
are about to die will give us all some re-clarifying wisdom of what,
in balance, is important as we shape our own character.
Tony
didn't say much, you don't with a sucking chest wound.
His
life, until that moment could have been described by his earnestness
and desire to please. He was slightly overweight, from Milwaukee,
and liked sports. He loved his family. At twenty he never spoke
of a girlfriend, although in his wallet there were 4 or 5 graduation
photos of friends with messages on the back. You know the kind with
lots of X's and O's and exclamation marks.
Character
didn't rise up out of his life as a distinguishing mark. He just
did his duty when drafted. Fulfilling your responsibilities, doing
what is right, doesn't earn you a status, yet it should. Serving
in the military requires a commitment of character because this
calling has so many uncertainties and because it serves a greater
good with personal sacrifice.
As
you may know the site of the World War II memorial was dedicated
yesterday and 50 years ago this spring we ended the forgotten war
in Korea and remembered it. In days past it was easier to see lives
of character I suppose.
This
morning I worshipped with the latest generation of veterans yet
to be while at the Marine Recruit Depot. To see them, heads uniformly
shaved, I recalled other basic training units I'd been with, even
my own. Their eagerness to do well and their apprehension of what
lay ahead is always preciously the same.
It was that way for Seaman Apprentice Craig Bryan Wibberly from
outside of Hagerstown, Maryland. His priest told me about him as
we planned his funeral. In the spring of this year he shipped out
on the USS Cole and he was really "revved" and a little scared.
He died with 16 of his fellow crewmen in a terrorist explosion while
his ship was refueling in a Yemeni port. In the painful calculation
of this kind of national tragedy, this was one of the worst.
The
next day, even as the surviving mates made ready for a memorial
service after sleeping under tarps above deck, they interrupted
preparations as the Cole dangerously took on more water and began
to sink.
That
mixed moment of grief and duty is the best of the American in uniform.
Those responses are lessons in character for all of us and they
are the same as times before.
Craig
Wibberly's body was flown to graves registration at Dover AFB in
Delaware. His family was there to accompany him on the last trip
to Maryland. He had lived an ordinary life in that little town outside
of Hagerstown; graduating from high school and dreaming of joining
the Navy and serving his country like his father and uncle.
And
perhaps that's where the essential theme of this weekend lies: "Ordinary
people who serve this country with honor." Ordinary people who may
have unglamorous assignments and still they serve; whose home lives
are disrupted and still they serve; whose health may be compromised
and still they serve; whose ultimate sacrifice from the Verdun Woods
to the beaches at Normandy, to Pearl Harbor, to Iwo Jima, to Inchon
and the 38th parallel, to Vietnam, to Desert Storm (and all the
mobilizations in between) and still they serve.
We
as a nation witness and remember these transactions of character.
Just ordinary people doing their duty so that this Republic can
thrive and stand by its declaration of "liberty and justice for
all."
Veterans
Day is observed because of your service, thank you. Because of others
who have served and are not here, we thank them.
And
it is an offering before God of how noble character can come and
inhabit ordinary lives.+gep
Bishop's
Notebook
10
November
At the West Coast Conference I got kidded mercilessly (and I deserved
it) about my emphasis on this website and its importance to the
episcopacy. One after-action report even said, "The theme of this
conference should have been 'read the webpage!''' I took that as
good comedy since the subject came up again and again as I answered
questions about policy and points of view using the tired refrain,
"If you read my entries in the 'Bishop's Notebook' I think you will
find an answer there." Occasionally you will.
As I have reflected on the times at conferences in Santa Barbara,
Roslyn, VA, Charlotte, NC, Germany, Guam, and Indianapolis, IN,
what I sense is also being asked is, "Bishop, just share yourself
with us." That sharing has two directions and I hope we will be
able to prize hearty exchanges in meetings, on the phone, good old
face-to-face, or through e-mail messages. The lament I have about
this job, given the distances, is that we have spare moments together
which means that when we are in each other's presence not only is
a bonding created but also a memory. I count on those memories when
I pray for you each day.
This
can put many members of our very large family at a disadvantage
since we have 650 clergy, if all the noses are counted. Memories
of contacts with that many persons can be gone quickly like a vapor.
Thanks to the tradition of my predecessors, though, when I'm penning
a message on your birthday card at my kitchen table, you and I do
have a personal moment.
A
full perspective of our life together advises that in our "collegium"
we have a shared presence through Our Lord with each other and with
a greater communion and fellowship. Since we are dispersed we have
been called to revere that special intimacy most of all.
Additional
note: Tomorrow I travel to San Diego for the observation of Veteran's
Day at the Cathedral. In the midst of the buzz of who has won the
presidential election, let us thank God for those who have served
and are serving this country. Their tenure has given us such a stable
republic where even this melodrama can be tolerated. +gep
Bishop's
Notebook
3
November 2000
Greetings
from Mt.Calvary Monastery in Santa Barbara, California! Thirty-five
members of our Episcopal family join me in this salutation to you.
Once again, Ken Ruge has made a wonderful impression through his
presentations and very person. This time participants have interspersed
the program with hikes in the nearby mountains and a special outing
on Wednesday to local vineyards and sights.
There
is an eagerness to know what my "style" of leadership will be. Addressing
that is probably a little self conscious but I can see why the question
would be asked. I believe my leadership style is "collaborative"
which means that no small amount of consultation must be achieved
with those who are led. To that effect I will be meeting with our
senior chaplains from all branches and ministries in January. For
those three days we will discuss approaches to the three or four
most pressing challenges we face in this Episcopacy. I call such
meetings "course corrections" since the azimuth we're on had better
be true for all concerned.
Whenever
I relate my view of such things there is always an understandable
follow-up question about the authority of the bishop and when it
is used. The authority of the bishop in this episcopacy is tied
to unity and accord. The bishop unifies all the presbyters with
pastoral guidance on doctrine and other matters and insures that
the integrity of the Church remains intact. It is vital that the
bishop (read, me) have an ongoing one-on-one relationship with the
chaplain. I have noticed how the world changes after I have visited
a chaplain and his or her family in the field. So, that's a priority.
I
have to give this computer back to the monk who loaned it to me.
More another time.+gep
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