Mystery Gift

Today was the annual meeting at St. John's. Nothing terribly exciting to report from that event. We are committing to a year of Christian hospitality which is a good goal. A transformative goal for St. John's which has been through a time of everyone looking over their shoulder before speaking for fear of who might be listening and turning them into the "orthodox police".

As I approached my car with my Pyrex containing the leftovers of my Chicken paprikash from our potluck, I noticed a book on the driver's side of the roof. I had a moment of, "What did I leave out here for four hours?" It was a slim book by the Bishop of Atlanta on his journey toward understanding what I know in the marrow of my bones: Gay people are part of God's kingdom. In fact, I believe my sexuality (and yours) is a gift from God. At any rate, this book had a sticky note: "I hope you enjoy this. I found it very interesting. A fan of your blog."

Quite the mystery! I only know a few of my readers by name or acronym. Some I know personally, but many are folks who I've come to know as part of this virtual church in the blogosphere. Now a member of this church has passed along a tangible gift which I hope to get to this week (unfortunately, I have to focus on the popes of Avignon and Rome for EfM first). But I will read the Bishop's book. And I might even comment on it here. So, thank you, Mystery Gifter. How fun to have blog readers bestow me with books!