Excerpts from the January 2012 Logos

December 29, 2011

Dear Friends,

On December 8^th, the Vestry met with Bishop Ely and Canon Lynn Bates regarding the next steps in our search for a new priest.  These steps were delineated:

1.) meet our parish companion

2.) develop a communication plan

3.) call an interim pastor

4.) establish a search committee.

Here is what’s been done to address each point thus far.  Steve Smith has been appointed by the bishop to be our parish companion.  A companion’s duty includes facilitating the search process, offering guidance to the parish and acting as a liaision with the bishop’s office when necessary.  Steve Smith is a member of St. James, Arlington and was most recently a companion for St. Michael’s, Brattleboro.

Those who have been able to attend our worship service on Sundays know that our co-Senior Warden, Aaron Tinsman has been updating us on the search process during the morning announcements.  The Vestry is dedicated to ensuring this process remains as open and transparent as possible.  Updates will also be included in this newsletter and in the Weekly E-nnouncements as they come up.  Please speak with a Vestry member if you have any questions or concerns.

The Vestry met again on December 13 to discuss the expectations for an interim and the compensation package we will offer.  This has been done and a letter has been sent to the bishop’s office in that regard.

Since the last Vestry meeting, announcements have been made requesting volunteers to be considered for the search committee.  Individuals are also being actively recruited for this purpose.  The Vestry expects to have a search team assembled to introduce to the parish at the Annual Meeting on January 22.

~~The Vestry

Worship Services

The worship team has secured the presence of a priest for each Sunday service through January. 

January 1, the Feast of the Holy Name, Rite 1—the Rev. Jere Berger

January 8, the Baptism of Our Lord, Rite 2—the Rev. Richard Brewer

January 15, Epiphany 2, Rite 1—the Rev. Richard Brewer

January 22, Epiphany 3, Rite 2—the Rev. Dr. Ran Chase

January 29, Epiphany 4, Rite 1—the Rev. Richard Brewer

The Rev. Jere Berger is a member of Trinity Church and sings in our choir.  He periodically provides in a supply capacity for us.  The Rev. Randall Chase comes to us from his home in Cape Cod.  He, too, has been a welcome guest priest on a number of occasions.  The Rev. Richard Brewer is retired and lives in Whitehall, NY.  He first served at Trinity as the officiant at a funeral on two separate, recent occasions.  He’s looking forward to extending his relationship with us in serving as our priest at a regular worship service.  The Rev. Brewer is the former Canon to the Bishop of Long Island.  We will continue to worship together in the church sanctuary until further notice.

Fuel Fund Challenge Issued!

Bill and Carolyn Meub have issued a challenge: they have offered $500 to Trinity’s fuel fund in order to remain in the church for Sunday worship during the winter.  Their donation will keep us in the church through January 22 (Annual Meeting Sunday).  They challenge other Trinitarians to make contributions to see how long we can remain in the church this winter.  If you’d like to take up the Meub’s fuel fund challenge, make your check payable to Trinity Church with “fuel fund” on the memo line.  In the past, we’ve moved into Nourse Hall on Epiphany and stayed there until Palm Sunday.  This Year, Palm Sunday falls on April 1.  To remain in the church during the ten weeks after Annual Meeting Sunday, the fuel will cost an additional $4500.

Questions Answered about Contribution Envelope Numbers

What are envelope numbers? – These are the numbers assigned to contribution envelope sets used by parishioners. These numbers are used to assure the accuracy of recording contributions in our computer system for accounting and reporting purposes. 

What happens if I don’t use envelopes? – Some parishioners place checks in the collection plate or mail them in. Others have checks automatically sent from their bank account. For these contributors who don’t use envelopes, a number outside the envelope number range is assigned for tracking in the same way as for those using envelopes.  

Why may my number have been changed? – Some numbers have been changed for 2012 in an effort to consolidate the list of numbers so that fewer envelope sets are wasted.  Envelope sets are purchased with sequential numbering. When numbers are added for new members the list gets longer and when members no longer use envelopes it leaves open slots in the list. Moving contributors with higher numbers into these vacant lower number slots means we can save money by ordering fewer envelope sets.

Ministry Team Bulletin Board

Ministry Teams are encouraged to use the large bulletin board in Nourse Hall to update the parish with their news.  Each team should make sure their plans are posted.  Be creative with your display!

2012 Calendars

Calendars for 2012, compliments of Tossing Funeral Home, are available in the narthex and on the chapel hall table.

Update as of Dec. 21, 2011

Our Christmas Eve service on Saturday begins at 7:00pm.  

On Sunday, Christmas Day, our service will be held in the chapel at 9:30am.

Anyone visiting parishioners who are homebound this Christmas is encouraged to take a poinsettia on the chapel table as a gift.  Please sign your name next to the person you'll be taking a plant to so that we know who has received one.  The list of homebound friends is on the table next to the flowers.  If you know of someone not on the list who should be, please contact the office.

The church office and building will be closed on Friday, December 23 and Monday, December 26. 

Search Committee Notice

Anyone interested in being considered for the Ministry Discernment Team (the search committee for the new rector or PIP) please submit your name to one of the vestry by Dec. 31.

Reminder of Worship times for December 2011

Sunday, December 18 – 9:30 Rite I Eucharist (The Rev. Angie Emerson) 

Saturday, December 24 – 7:00 pm Christmas Eve Rite II Eucharist (The Rev. Angie Emerson)

Sunday, December 25 – 9:30 am Christmas Eucharist (The Rev. Angie Emerson)

New Announcements for Dec. 15 - Dec. 21, 2011

     --  Please get your Christmas flower donations and memorials to the office by Monday, December 19!  

     As it stands right now, our flower fund will not even be able to cover the cost of the Advent decorations, let alone the Christmas flowers!  Please help us replenish this fund with your Christmas memorials.

     --  The Vestry is beginning to recruit for the search committee.  

     If you feel called to the commitment of being part of this team, please speak with a Vestry member before December 31.

     --  Tuesday (Dec. 20th) is the Gift of Life blood drawing!  

   

Excerpts from the 3rd Sunday of Advent Bulletin

Holiday Office Hours—The parish office will be closed Friday, December 23^rd, Monday, December 26^th, and Monday, January 2^nd in observance of Christmas and New Year’s.

Annual Parish Meeting—It is not too soon to mark the parish annual meeting and potluck luncheon on your calendar!  This year’s meeting is scheduled for Sunday, January 22 following our worship service.  Leaders of our ministries and committees are encouraged to submit their reports for the Annual Report no later than January 6 so that the document can be prepared and previewed by the congregation prior to the meeting.

“Gift of Life” Blood Drawing—Each year, the American Red Cross hosts a major blood drawing at the end of the year.  In the past few years, Rutland has produced the largest donation of blood in New England.  This year, our challenge is to break the single day record nationwide!  To do that, all appointment slots will need to be filled.  So make your appointment now!  This year, the drawing will be held on Tuesday, December 20 at the Paramount Theater, College of St. Joseph gym, the American Legion and the Elks Lodge.  You can make an appointment by calling 1-800 RED CROSS or by visiting the website www.giftoflifemarathon.com.

2011 Pledges—We are coming to the close of our 2011 pledge year.  Trinity Church offers its sincere gratitude to all who have pledged and contributed to the financial health of our church over the past 12 months.  If you are behind in your contributions, we humbly request that you make every effort to become up-to-date by the end of the year.  If you are unable to do so, we understand and ask that you contact the office to let our treasurer know.

 RSVP Operation Dolls and More

Michele Dauphinais and all her volunteers 
        have done themselves proud!  

   Photo and comment from Wendy Grace.

Christmas Flowers

Once again, it is time to think about altar flowers and Christmas greenery decorations for the church!

If you would like to have your loved ones remembered or honored this Christmas, send in your list of names and your donation to the flower fund no later than December 19.

The greens and poinsettias are one of the lovelier traditions we have in celebration of our Christmas liturgy. Don’t miss your chance to be part of it!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

There will be one worship service on Christmas Eve at which the choir will sing the prelude and the children will be involved in the service as well. The worship schedule for Christmas is as follows:

Saturday December 24 – 7:00 pm Christmas Eve Rite II Eucharist (The Rev. Angie Emerson)

Sunday December 25 – 9:30 am Christmas Eucharist (The Rev. Angie Emerson)

Excerpts From the December Logos "Letter from the Vestry"

November 21, 2011

Dear Members of Trinity,

The Vestry wants to assure everyone that all of its members are doing everything they can to make this time of transition as smooth as possible. The Vestry wants to also assure people that our transitional phase will be transparent and that we will be communicating regularly with our members to explain where we are in the process and what progress is being made. If anyone has any questions please speak with one of the four wardens or another Vestry member.

The discernment process has made clear that the congregation wants its priest to be its spiritual leader and chief executive officer who works closely with and in conjunction with an active vestry and its operational teams.

Trinity accepts and realizes that our church cannot rely primarily on its priest to carry its work; it must be a collaborative relationship that has clearly defined roles for members of the parish and the priest consistent with the duties and responsibilities that are worked out together between the priest and the Vestry.

Minutes of the Vestry are available to any member of the parish – just ask Wendy for a copy. The Vestry will be operating with an executive committee so that weekly staff meetings are attended and the regular operations of the church are supervised on a daily basis. It is thought that this will be a good way for people to experience how the Vestry hopes to operate in the future. Most of the day-to-day operations of the church will be done by the teams as we have them now constituted but they may change as people find better ways to operate.

Jim Cassarino and the worship team have been arranging for supply priests and they are working very hard to make this coming season a meaningful time for all of us. We thank him and those working with him. Our lay pastoral care team also has a lot of responsibility during this time and we thank them for the critical and important role that they are doing for all of us.

The Vestry is meeting December 1st with the Bishop and Lynn Bates from his office for the first time to talk about what happens next for Trinity. We will be informing you what we learn and what is going to happen next in the process of our finding a new priest. The Vestry hopes that all of the work that has been done will help shorten the process considerably.

Being on the Vestry is always hard work. But during this transition time, the work is especially difficult. Please keep Trinity in your prayers.

Peace be with you,

The Vestry

Worship Service Times and Message from the Wardens

The Worship Team has made the following arrangements for November and December:

• Sunday, November 27 - 9:30am Rite II Eucharist (The Rev. Jere Berger)

• Sunday, December 4 – 9:30am Rite I Eucharist (The Rev. Ran Chase)

• Sunday, December 11 – 9:30am Rite II Eucharist (The Rev. Ran Chase)

• Sunday, December 18 – 9:30am Rite I Eucharist (The Rev. Angie Emerson)

• Saturday, December 24 – 7:00pm Christmas Eve Rite II Eucharist (The Rev. Angie Emerson)

• Sunday, December 25 – 9:30am Christmas Eucharist (The Rev. Angie Emerson)

Message from Wardens

Following the Bishop’s meeting it became apparent that we could improve our communications with the congregation. This message is the first of our regular communications with you that will be in each edition of LOGOS. Very little occurs within the Vestry that is confidential, and copies of the minutes of our meetings will continue to be kept by Wendy, so please check those minutes or ask a vestry member if you have any questions. The only items that are confidential deal with contract negotiations, personnel matters, pastoral care issues or items of a personal nature about anyone connected with Trinity.

First we want to let you know that our final meeting for putting together our transformation plan with Larry Jensen and Tom Huebner will be November 17 at 5:00p.m. Anyone who wants to know more about the plan and what we are doing is invited to attend. Part of the plan is a new model of operating that is modeled after the recommendations found in Robinson’s book entitled “Changing the Conversation”. The vestry and congregation will be playing a very active role in what happens at Trinity as we move forward. We expect that our operational teams that we have set up will play a major role in what happens at Trinity.

These teams will be overseen by the vestry with participation by our next priest.

Two of our most critical teams are “worship” and “lay pastoral care”. These teams will play major roles during our transition time. The worship team is already actively involved in finding and scheduling our supply priests for Sunday service. The team has recommended that we, at least temporarily, have just one service at 9:30 to make the process easier and keep all of us together and aware of what is going on. Members of the vestry will be keeping you informed at announcement time during the services as well as through LOGOS. We ask you to give us input about this preliminary plan of one service and encourage you to pass on your comments to Jim Cassarino, who is the leader of this team, or to a member of the Vestry. We also greatly appreciate the work of our lay pastoral care team and their leader, Winnie Grace, in this very importance ministry.

The vestry will be meeting with the Bishop and Lynn Bates, Canon to the Ordinary, November 20th to talk about our future.

The vestry will be presenting the Bishop and Lynn with our plan and all of the criteria that we have put together regarding what we are looking for in our next priest so that we can begin a search process. We will soon be putting together a search committee; anyone who is interested in participating should submit their names to one of the two senior wardens – Marc Brierre or Aaron Tinsman. We are expecting a small committee of about five people with one person from the vestry leading the committee, so not very one who wants to will be able to participate. But, we will be keeping everyone well informed about the process and our thoughts. We want to let everyone know that we have put together our information based upon much work striving to get input from all of our members of the congregation and synthesizing that material. Even our plan of having the vestry focus on our operations while having a separate search committee has been in response to input from members of the congregation. After we meet with the Bishop and Lynn all of the material that we provide them will be available through Wendy. If you want to offer other input, please feel free to do so.

Vestry meetings are open to everyone unless we have something that will require executive session. We will have a brief period during the meeting to listen to members and anyone may remain with us while we deal with the issues of Trinity. Our next vestry meeting is November 10 at 6:30.

Adios, Adieu, Godspeed

This is my lost posting; once up, I am removing myself from access to the blog. Future submissions must go to Joanne and Tom.

May God bless us and keep us,
may God make God's face to shine upon us,
may God be gracious to us for ever more.

Lent 4A

Lent 4A • 3 April 2011

Judith Schenck, an Episcopal priest in Montana and also a vowed solitary living in her monastery of the Transfiguration, tells the following story:

Eddie was the extrovert in the community for the disabled in the assisted living unit. He always plunked himself down right in the middle of where the action was – in a chair by the mailboxes, at the entrance to the dining room, or right in front of the TV in the sitting room.

He knew everyone by name. “Good morning Miss Liddy. Your knees must be hurting you today.” “Hello there, Harry. Lydia was looking for you, and, my, but she was mad.” “Hello, Maxine, you got a letter today. Maybe it’s from that son of yours.” “Watch out, Charlie, someone spilled water there, and the floor might be slick.”

Eddie was blind. He was born that way. But he didn’t miss a trick. He saw more with his blindness than most of us see with our two good eyes. He saw with his ears, and his gut, and his heart. Sometimes “blind” is not really blind and “seeing” is not really sight.

+

The gospel reading this morning brings us one of the most important and best-constructed chapters of the gospel of John. Facing a man blind from birth and, as a result, used to begging to live, Jesus’ disciples ask who is responsible for this man’s misfortune. They decide it is because he and his parents are sinners because in their day and time physical handicap or illness, and poverty were understood to be punishment for sin.

The ‘signs and miracles’ that Jesus performs midst the poor causes great impact on them and consequently they become reasons for controversy. Those against his movement see in Jesus’ healings simply the work of a healer. His disciples, however, understand in them all their liberating and salvific work. But these works are not just those that heal human limitations but also those that open up the dignity of all people. The one who recovers his vision discovers that his problem was not a punishment from God for the sins of his forebears nor a terrible test of destiny. He is someone who passes from desperation to faith and discovers in Jesus the prophet, the anointed one of God. His problem, a physical limitation, had been converted into a terrible social and religious mark. But the problem was not his visual limitation but the terrible weight of distain that his culture had imposed on him. Jesus liberates him from the insufferable weight of social marginalisation and leads him to a community that will accept him for who he is without worrying about etiquette that social prejudices had imposed on him.

Indeed, instead of punishing the blind man, Jesus restores his sight. To liberation from a distorted and damaging religious perspective Jesus adds the elimination of physical and spiritual blindness. In the course of the discussion that takes place in the gospel narrative, the formerly blind man affirms himself as a full person, and he opens up to believe in Jesus. The leaders of the people, the Pharisees, try to deny the events by every possible means in several ways. First, since the cure takes place on the sabbath, they claim that the law is not observed. Therefore, what has happened does not come from God and Jesus, the performer of the deed, is a sinner. Then they say that perhaps the beggar was never really blind. Even the testimony of his parents cannot convince them. The Pharisees insist he deny the very gift of sight he has been given and renounce the giver. But since he assures them that Christ must be from God, they expel him from the premises and his community. ‘You are steeped in sin from your birth and you are giving us lectures?,’ they fume.

The blind man sees the matter differently. He starts with the only thing he knows, his own experience. He states, ‘I was blind and now I see.’ The opponents become progressively hardened and aggressively interrogate the man who has been healed, rather than celebrate the restoration of his sight. Seeing them so preoccupied by what has happened, the former blind man sarcastically asks them, ‘Do you also want to become his disciples?’

What has the opponents so bent out of shape is that this former beggar who used to spend his days sitting and holding his hand out for alms, now stands up as their equal. Not only does he dare to be their equal, he dares to argue with them. They can no longer oppress him. What becomes most pointed in this exchange is the spiritual vision of the blind man and the blindness of his and Jesus’ opponents. The former blind man understands who Jesus is, whereas the leaders are blind to the manifestation of the Messiah. The blind man becomes a child of the light (which the Prologue to this gospel promises to all who believe in Christ) and his opponents children of darkness.

+

The gospel clearly invites one to consider the source of suffering but I am going to put that theme aside for another day. Instead, I want to return to the story with which I began that describes someone who lives in community and takes care of those around him despite his physical limitation.

Judith Schenck states: ‘Some of us have blindness of heart, and that is a terrible blindness. The blind of heart can’t love another beyond a superficial level and usually can't even love themselves. The blind of heart often live lives corroded with addictions to material things, possessions, and work, to cover up the empty hole.

‘And worst of all is blindness of the soul, which wraps all the rest of life in gloomy darkness.’

She then asks: What kind of blindness lives inside you?

That is a hard question but she leaves us with hope: Jesus notices our blindness. Jesus sees. Jesus invites us to see. Jesus invites us to see with our very blind eyes, with our wounds and brokenness. Jesus uses our weaknesses as grace.

Schenck says: We look at our physical and mental blindness as a curse. And indeed Jesus does heal the blindness. Yet at the same time, the blindness is a door to grace. It is the sick who need the doctor. It is the blind who need to see. It is we who need the redemption, the transfiguration, the Burning Light.

Jesus plays a lot with the concept of blindness. There is an upside-down turning pirouette between the sighted that are blind and the blind that see. Jesus is like Copernicus, saying that things are not as they appear: the world is not flat, the earth is not the center around which all else revolves, and what we think is true often is not. The sighted are blind and the blinded see.

Schenck gives us a new image of what happens to the man in the gospel: The blind man was given Jesus Eyes. When we truly see, we are given new eyes, new insight, new vision, new understanding. Jesus Eyes are not like the flat-seeing, self-centered world around us. Jesus Eyes are world shattering and paradigm changing. Jesus Eyes are often unwelcome and threatening. It can be lonely and frightening to have Jesus Eyes. There is a cost to Jesus Eyes. It always brings the cross, and with the cross comes transfiguration. God’s love is the laser light that cuts away our cataract blindness.

Her meditation asks us: What needs to be turned upside down in your world? Where do you pass by when you need to stop and see Jesus? Where in your own brokenness can God's glory be made manifest? How can you use your own weaknesses to become holy? And how can you see what is holy in what is broken around you, in yourself, and in others?

I’ll take her questions one step further and ask where in our common life here at Trinity do we need to see with Jesus Eyes? Where in our common life do we need to cut away our figurative blindness to see new ways of being, ministering to one another and to the world outside our doors? Where do we need to have new vision and most important, not be afraid of where that might lead us?

Having considered those questions, we can then say as does Schenck: Let us pray for Jesus Eyes. Let us pray to see Jesus in each face we meet, each life we pass in this life. Let us pray to see God. Let us worship with our lives and make God manifest, as it says in the hymn: “God in man made manifest.”1

END NOTE
1 This entire last part draws full excerpts from her sermon at http://www.episcopalchurch.org/82478_95231_ENG_HTM.htm

From the Archbishop of the Anglican Communion in Japan

Statement from The Most Revd Nathaniel Makoto Uematsu, the Archbishop of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai (The Anglican Communion in Japan):

On the 11th of March at 2:46pm, the biggest earthquake ever to hit Japan struck just off the coast of the Tohoku region. This caused a tsunami and fires that brought massive devastation to a very wide area. This unimaginably strong earthquake triggered an explosion at the Fukushima No.1 nuclear reactor. The people living in the area around that and the No. 2 reactor have been evacuated. The stories and images constantly broadcast by the media have left people lost for words, unable to describe the sheer scale of the unbelievable devastation caused by the earthquake, tsunami and fires.

We see homes devastated, whole towns that were swallowed by the tsunami, and houses that continue to burn because fire fighters are unable to reach both the properties and the people who were the victims of this catastrophe. With hearts filled with grief and helplessness we see people who are mourning their lost loved ones and others who search tirelessly for missing family members. There are so many who have lost their homes and possessions. Towns and villages were obliterated by the tsunami, everything was gone in a second.

Since the earthquake the Provincial office has worked very hard to find out about the people and the churches in Tohoku diocese. However, we could neither contact them by phone nor email. Only yesterday were we able to start to see a picture of the devastation in the affected areas. I had been most concerned that I could not contact the Bishop of Tohoku diocese [The Rt Revd John Hiromichi Kato], but on Saturday he rang me and I was able to find out more about what had happened to the churches in Sendai City.

Bp Kato explained that he himself had not been able to find out much about the other churches in the diocese of Tohoku. This was largely due to the fact that neither power supplies nor telephone lines had been restored in areas most badly hit by the tsunami. There is particular concern for two churches: Isoyama St Peter’s Church in Fukushima Prefecture and Kamaishi Shinai Church and the kindergarten in Iwate that were close to the sea. Priests have been frantically trying to confirm that their parishioners are safe. We also know that it is not only Tohoku diocese that has been affected, some churches in Kita Kanto diocese have been reported to have been damaged also.

Sendai Christchurch (the Cathedral church) is badly damaged and yesterday, while there were still so many aftershocks, the church carried out their first Sunday after Lent service in the diocesan office.

In many affected areas there are roadblocks but as for Tohoku diocese the church is planning to establish an emergency relief centre within the diocesan building. Bishop Kato will lead the efforts to respond to the crisis.

At a Provincial level I am working to establish a structure for responding to this unprecedented natural disaster as soon as possible. This will include providing relief and sourcing volunteers and funding to help with the restoration of the affected areas. I am also trying to find more accurate information about our church family and the relief efforts, and to communicate that information as quickly as possible.

What we can do right now, however, is pray. Prayer has power. I hope and request that you pray for the people who are affected, for those who have died and for their families. Pray for the people involved with the rescue efforts, and in particular pray for Tohoku and Kita Kanto dioceses and their priests and parishioners during this time of Lent.

I am grateful for all the many prayers and messages of support from throughout the world; from the Archbishop of Canterbury and other Churches.

Sunday in Jerusalem

All I can think of is the Psalm 122 and 17th century English song, 'Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, they shall prosper who love her...' The city is so white because of a city-wide building ordinance that requires all buildings to be made of limestone. The weather has been gorgeous too.

Today a visit to Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Christianity's most holy site, and the Western Wall, Judaism's most holy site. Very, very powerful experiences. Worship this morning at Saint George's Anglican Cathedral...

This trip has been amazing and I am continually amazed to think I am a part of it.

Lots and lots of prayers for all of you and lots and lots of stories for when I get back.

Day one

This trip will truly be a track race. Up bright and early, leaving the hotel at 7.45 and going until 6.00 when we arrive at the next spot.

The weather is absolutely gorgeous — 70 degrees and sunny. The Mediterranean water into which I got my feet is chilly but so nice to be able to say I have walked barefoot on the sand.

Today we went to Joppa, Caesarea Philippi (where there are the ruins of a theatre and hippodrome), Mount Carmel, Meggido where there is extensive archaeological work, including the water tunnel of King Ahab 187 steps down in the earth, hand hewn out of limestone, and then onto Mount Tabor, the Mount of Transfiguration from which one can see the valley of Meggido, the spot where supposedly Armageddon will occur.

Tonight we are at a kibbutz by the Sea of Galilee and tomorrow we will actually go out on it. We'll also go to the River Jordan where I intend to get some water for baptisms back home.

The group is 27 clergy people from across the country. I am the sole Episcopalian but there are several Methodists and Lutherans (Evangelical Lutheran Church of America) so I am not totally out of it.

Some interesting impressions — on the airplane trip over (LONG but even longer coming back), several times in the course of the flight the Orthodox Jewish men got up, put on their black coats over their prayer shawls), their black hats and took over the galley/lavatory area in the rear of the plane to pray. They would gather up a minion, close the curtains and pray for about ten minutes. At other times, they would stand in the aisle, prayer shawl over their head, like white ghosts in the dark of the night. It was kind of ethereal.

Our leader said tonight that everyone in the previous group got sick with one thing or another. I don't have time for that so truly hope I will stay healthy.

Prayers for all of you... if I could figure out how to load it up, I would post a photo... first, I cannot shrink it with the application on my iPad because the photo is too big and secondly, working in blogger on the iPad is not like being on the laptop. But at least I can send this off.

Last thing, a silly: all the instructions for blogger are in Hebrew. I can cope with Spanish and French instructions, I can even transliterate the Hebrew but I still don't understand what the word is.

Israel

In the course of my trip to Israel, I will try to post on occasion, so stay tuned. Given that I will be doing this on my iPad, my posts may not have the same amount of graphics as usual because I am still figuring things out.