What the flock is going on in Columbia, SC? If you haven't noticed, a flock of flamingos seems to be migrating from yard to yard...but before I go too far, let me backtrack.

Columbia is a city where, if you ask, "Where did you go to school?" The question is not about college, it's about high school. It's a place where deep bonds are made at Dreher and Flora, Spring Valley and Richland Northeast, Hammond and Heathwood, and all the others. It's a place where those relationships are deeply valued, to the point that I know many parents who have purchased homes with the intention of having their children attend the same school they did. It's a valued tradition. Columbia is also a small enough city that, through sports, music, theater, and youth groups, children end up with friends from all over. This creates a dynamic where it feels like everyone from here is only one or two degrees of separation from everyone else. I have heard it described as a city that feels like a small town. St. Martin's youth group is one such special place, where between 20 and 40 kids from all over the city gather each week to play, to pray, and, in an over-programmed world, relax and just be. I am grateful for this.

I hope and pray that you are well and that you continue to have a Happy Easter. A funny thing happened at our Finance Committee meeting yesterday. As a greeting, I said "Happy Easter" and got a polite chuckle from the room. The sentiment was clearly that Easter is over. That said, it is a very catholic tradition to celebrate the 50 days between Easter and the day of Pentecost. I sometimes wonder why we, the church, are so good at honoring the season of Lent but not so good at honoring the entire season of Easter. I suspect there are multiple reasons. Sadly, one reason is that for many of us, it is easier to focus on the negative things in our lives than to focus on our blessings. This thought, however, opens a theological wormhole that might be better served by a podcast than by this messenger.

Yesterday, I listened to a news report from Artemis II. Pilot Victor J. Glover spoke about the feelings he experienced upon seeing the Earth from space. Artemis II had just finished the slingshot around the moon. During this maneuver, the crew flew to the farthest point from Earth any crewed ship had ever gone before. The feeling must have been surreal. I imagine it must have been a mix of adrenaline, excitement, fear, and adventure, but that is just me; they are trained professionals. After the maneuver, Mr. Glover was asked about his feelings and what he would like to share with the world.

Welcome to Holy Week, the week in which we are confronted with the sinfulness of yesterday and today, our brokenness, and our need for God's redemptive grace through Jesus Christ. It is a week in which we confront the hate and violence of the world, a hate that caused Jesus to be nailed to the cross. In the Gospel reading this past Sunday, Jesus said to us, "Put away your swords, for the one who lives by the sword will fall by the sword." Instead of fighting, Jesus submits through humble obedience. This week, as an expression of our own humble obedience to God, we are called to walk the way of the cross. We do so knowing love will win.

It's hard to believe that our Lenten journey is nearly halfway complete. In just a couple of weeks, Holy Week will begin, and together we will journey to the cross. This week, one of our readings is from Ephesians chapter five. It's a short reading tucked between a longer Old Testament reading and a very long Gospel. As a result, it is often overlooked. It reads, "Live as children of light— for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord."

It's hard to believe that our Lenten journey is nearly halfway complete. In just a couple of weeks, Holy Week will begin, and together we will journey to the cross. This week, one of our readings is from Ephesians chapter five. It's a short reading tucked between a longer Old Testament reading and a very long Gospel. As a result, it is often overlooked. It reads, "Live as children of light— for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord."

I hope and pray that you are well. I look forward to seeing many of you tomorrow at our next Lenten fish fry. It's going to be fun, and I promise the food will be good. A group of us, Caitlyn, Clayton, and Jim from the office, and Pete Stewart from St. Martin’s Vestry, have been in Charlotte this week for a conference called EPN. Episcopal Parish Network (EPN) has grown over the last five years into the largest gathering of Episcopal leaders outside of the General Convention. It has been a fruitful event. Yesterday, the rectors and deans of churches spent three hours with our Presiding Bishop, Sean Rowe. It was a good and honest conversation about the state of the church, our future, and our hopes for tomorrow. After that gathering, I was lucky to spend some private time with folks from the national church as we dreamed about ways diocesan structures could better serve local communities.

I hope and pray life is treating you well on this rainy Thursday. A friend of mine recently joked that Lent was a great time to restart failed New Year's resolutions. I have to admit, I have laughed and recognized my own guilt at doing just that many, many times over the years. It occurred to me that one of the biggest things holding me back from accomplishing my Lenten disciplines is not the willingness to do what I say I am going to do, but rather the unwillingness or inability to shed the things that zap my time, energy, and attention — the wasted minutes on my phone that accumulate, my procrastination, and/or my avoidance of things that are hard or uncomfortable. These are habits that we all have, intentionally or unintentionally, trained into ourselves. See the lawsuit currently against Instagram!

I hope and pray that you are well. Welcome to Lent. For me, Lent is a time that I look forward to every year. Believe me, I get it, in terms of the humor of saying that. I am a priest, and so I am supposed to enjoy times of prayer and the reading of scripture. I am a priest, and so I am supposed to like mindfulness. I am a priest, of course, I love worship...it's my job. And if you say these things, you would be right! As all of these things are a part of who I am today. With that said, I was a Christian, a follower of Jesus, long before I ever took my ordination vows. Lent and my Lenten devotions were a large part of shaping my identity in Christ.

Our Lenten journey is about to begin. Next week, we celebrate Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras, and then begin to make our way toward the cross and Easter. Christians have observed a period of fasting and reflection since the second century; this makes the observance of Lent one of the church's oldest traditions. It is a time when the church calls us to evaluate our lives, our walk with Christ, and our walk with those whom we love. What's interesting to me, though, is that while the church "calls" us to this time, it does not order us. Instead, the Book of Common Prayer is explicit; the priest is to invite the congregation into a holy Lent. The observance of Lent is a choice we each get to make.

I miss you all and hope that you are well. Having church has been a challenge the last 2 weeks! Snow and ice, combined with a broken HVAC system, forced us to use blankets to keep warm during services last Sunday. That said, knock on wood, Sunday's weather looks better, and the heater in the church is now fixed!

As we look to the weekend, I want to remind everyone that if you do not feel safe coming to church, please stay home. As of now, Sunday services are still scheduled. Last week, the combination of the threat of winter weather and the HVAC in the church going down caused our cancellation. Thankfully, the heat is working again!

I hope and pray that you are all well, warm, and at this point dry. This week, we had to make the hard decision to cancel our Kanuga Parish Retreat, with the potential to reschedule. It was a hard decision. I wanted to communicate the rationale with you all.

Late last week and early this week, as I heard about the winter forecast, I will admit that my first thoughts were excited ones. A bit of snow in Kanuga means sledding and hot chocolate, and that seemed like a lot of fun to me. As the forecast progressed and in conversation with Neil, our Kanuga weekend’s fearless leader, a couple of things gradually became clearer. While Kanuga would have snow, there was also the potential for a lot of ice, particularly through Spartanburg County and potentially here at home. While we could all reasonably be assured of getting to Kanuga safely, the trip home and the potential of being stuck at Kanuga increased dramatically. While tomorrow looks good, Sunday's travel, particularly from up north, looks dangerous. By yesterday, we were looking at nearly half of our group cancelling, even without an official decision made by the church. Ultimately, the decision was one of safety. We are in conversations with Kanuga about the next steps. We will have more information next week. Currently, Kanuga is experiencing an all-hands-on-deck moment as they prepare for a forecasted 8 to 9 inches of snow and ice.

I hope and pray that you are well! I want to start today on a personal note. Thank you all for the prayers, the cards, the popsicles, the meals, the get-well wishes, and the snacks. It's been a long time since I've been sick. It has been an eye-opening experience for me. Thank you for the support and the space. Pneumonia is the pits, the coughing is subsiding, and my energy is slowly returning.

Amidst the craziness of the news this week, I have been struck and moved by the story of Buddhist monks walking through South Carolina, witnessing and praying for peace. It reminds me that as Christians, our universal duty is to pray for and work for peace. The Christmas message is undeniably a message of peace. This is not a new doctrine; rather, it is a theology that is as old as our faith itself. We should advocate for peace, decry violence, and work for a more peaceful world. 

Happy New Year!!! As I look back on the past year, one number keeps popping into my head: six tons. Over six tons worth of food was donated this past year through our Sunday offerings, two wagons at a time, pulled by children down the aisle, over and over and over again! On some Sundays, it didn't seem like much was in the wagons; on others, the wagons were not quite big enough. I will never forget two kids racing down the aisle with the wagons and crashing into the pulpit at full speed. The pulpit won't forget it either, as it now wears the scar with pride. The following Sunday, the same two children, obviously having been spoken to by their parents, pulled the wagons so slowly it felt like a funeral march. I laughed equally at both. Six tons! 

In Advent, we are called as a church to prepare, watch, and wait for the coming of the Lord. On Christmas Eve during the nighttime services, as we hear the story of Christ's birth and sing “Silent Night,” the waiting ends. We sing songs of exultation, gladness, joy, and peace! And most importantly, we embrace a spirit of hope.

I hope and pray that as Christmas draws near, you have been able to take some time to give thanks to God for the blessings of this life and season. Personally, Denise and I thank God for all of you. Our church family is a huge part of our lives. Your support and presence are deeply felt and appreciated. I look forward to worshiping with you during our Advent 4 services and Christmas Eve services. Following that, I look forward to having some informal time during our Kanuga weekend. For those of you who have never gone, Kanuga Camp and Conference Center is a beautiful place, and time spent there, together with family and friends, truly is holy and good.

Holy wow!!!! Christmas and the New Year feel like they are right around the corner. I don't know about you, but to me, this year feels like it has absolutely flown by. It's been busy. Amidst the quick pace and the busyness, I am thankful this Thursday for the opportunity each week to write this newsletter. It allows me to both think ahead and reflect on what we have done and what we still need to do.

I've always been a bit of a grinch when it comes to getting into the Christmas spirit. I have used a ton of excuses for this: Christmas is too commercial, I'm trying to celebrate Advent, we celebrate 12 days of Christmas, not 50 plus, and so on and so forth. The truth of the matter is, all of my Christmas gripes boil down to the fact that Advent and Christmas represent the busiest and most stressful part of the church year. That, combined with social stress, school stress, and the financial stress that comes with an expensive season, makes Advent and Christmas in my life just a little "extra" and not always in a good way. Now, inevitably, by Christmas Eve, I am all in, but usually I am slow to warm up. Today, however, something was different.