[Parish] Sending a Poem

[Malcolm Young]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I greet you on a beautiful clean day after the first rains, while  
winter still seems ages away...

The visioning committee and the vestry are meeting tonight, so do  
keep us in your prayers as we get further into a conversation that  
God will use to transform all of our lives together.

Our first meeting of the Gathering went very well on Sunday.  This  
week we will be meeting in the library at 9:00 a.m. on (Sunday) and  
having a conversation about the BIble.  You do not have to be new to  
attend this.  Please join us.  You will find your faith strengthened!

I have some bad news.  Bishop Andrus was recently diagnosed with  
prostate cancer.  He'll be having surgery on September 28.  He is  
optimistic about being okay, but this certainly hasn't stopped me  
from worrying about him

This Sunday we'll also be hearing a report on this summer's General  
Convention from Brian Reid.  General Convention happens every three  
years and this was an historic gathering.  I look forward so much to  
listening to Brian's thoughts on the whole thing.

Finally, I wanted to leave you with a poem.  In the old prayer book  
we used to pray for all sorts and conditions of people.  I'm praying  
for you this afternoon no matter what your condition is.

Love,

Malcolm

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile, the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-
  over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Mary Oliver
1986