Episcopal Convention

 Last week was the annual state convention for the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa.  Our main presenter was Rev. Cheryl Holbrook.  She was an absolute delight.  This picture of her looks a little grim but I have to tell you she was not only entertaining but she gave me a lot of food for thought.  One of the things I kept turning over in my head was that we need to look at growth differently.  Too often we measure growth only be the number of seats in the pews.  She reminded us that it can also be presence in the community, spiritual growth, and depth of commitment.

There was a lot of laughter.  At one point we had an IT glitch so to take up some time the bishop shared a story.  Here is my version.

There was a priest who was new to his parish and he decided to make home visits to his congregants.  On one visit to a farm family, he got out of his car, and was greeted by a three legged pig.  The pig followed him to the front door of the house where he was welcomed by the farm couple.  His first comment was about the three legged pig.

"Oh, said the farmer, that is the best animal we have.  It is a really special pig.  It even saved our lives once.  We had a fire and the pig ran into our bedroom and woke us up.  If he hadn't done it our house might have burned down and we probably wouldn't have survived."

The priest was still perplexed.  He said, "That's wonderful but tell me why he has only three legs."

"Well," said the farmer, "with such a wonderful pig, you wouldn't expect us to eat him all at once!"

I thought it was funny and I am vegetarian.

Peace,
Fr. Fred