I spent most of the past week on retreat at the ARC Ecumenical Retreat Center near Minneapolis, MN. They provided warm hospitality, and the unbelievable luxury of a hermitage where I could simply "be" for three days and four nights. Many thanks are due to them, especially their director Jan Wierenga, who sent me on my way not so much with my questions answered, but with new questions helpfully posed. It was a long way to drive, but I believe the result was worth it. Time will tell, of course, but I am much more at peace than when I left on Monday, ready to face the challenges of church life anew.

Tomorrow we celebrate All Saints (technically transferred from today), with the baptism of four children. The Gospel for the day is the Beatitudes, meat enough for several Sundays of preaching. But what I intend to talk about (no written text for tomorrow, alas, although I may record it) is how the church needs everyone, especially those whom Jesus calls blessed. We need each other to be whole, to be healthy, and to live into the way of life to which Jesus calls us in the last five of the nine "Blessed are...'s"