St Thomas

Most years, I write a column about the annual rite of passage that so many people and their extended families participate in this time of year— graduations. This year is no different, yet everything is very different. I spent a few hours this week online reading the stories of graduates describing what it has been like to graduate during a pandemic. I also talked with several parents whose sons and daughters are graduating from either high school or college at the momentous time. I even spoke with my grandson, who graduated virtually from kindergarten. What I read and heard can be summed up in two words: grief and gratitude. The grief that graduates are experiencing is palpable. Not being able to attend a traditional graduation ceremony was undoubtedly at the top of the list of disappointments for high school and college seniors. Some of the other losses that were mentioned…

St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington, DC, located immediately across from the White House, has been prominently featured in the news this week. Those of us who are members of the Episcopal Church (as I have been the entire sixty-four years of my life) took particular note. For those unfamiliar with the Episcopal Church, one of the things we are known for is the beautiful and poetic language of our Book of Common Prayer. There is one particular prayer from our prayerbook that has been on my mind this week. That prayer is the Prayer of Confession, and I pray it these days as a confession of my own failure to address the sin of racism more fully in my life. From my personal and professional experience, I know that an honest accounting of one’s shortcomings and blind spots is at the heart of authentic spirituality. This is a truth…

Have you ever visited General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin? It’s my hometown airport and so I pass through it often (although not lately, of course). If you visited our airport, you have likely had the opportunity to experience one of its kind “Recombobulation Area” The pride of having this unique place for people to gather themselves and their belongings after they pass through airport security is so famous that you can even buy a “Recombobulation T-Shirt,” at the airport gift shop. The photo at the top of the column is a close-up photo of one of those T-Shirts. I have thought about the airport sign several times this week-not because I have returned to a busy travel schedule (I am still fully sheltered in place and working from home). I thought about it because, in several conversations I’ve been a part of over the past few days, the…