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Rector & Deacon
Fellowship of St. John
The Reverend Deacon Josie Williams
Billie's Corner
March 2011
St. Alban's Community
April 2011
God Enjoys Giving Us A Rest
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The Very Reverend Billie Abraham, Rector
Summer Time
June 2011
Summer time and the livin' is easy. I love the song from Porgy and Bess, but in reality, summer time
is as packed full as any other time of the year, it’s just hotter than any other time of the year! While
I was on vacation in Florida (where the living is easy), I reread a small book by Frederick Buechner
entitled The Alphabet of Grace. Buechner refers to the humdrum events of our lives as an
alphabet, the ABC’s of our daily events. The ordinary becomes extraordinary when we pause to recognize
God in our waking and when we rest in God in our sleeping. Incident follows incident and is trying to
tell us something. I think the routines in our lives are trying to tell us to slow down and live in the
sacrament of the present moment.
Father’s Day is approaching and I am reminded of a humdrum incident that turned into a watershed
moment in my ordinary life. Within my own alphabet of grace, occurs the chore of housecleaning. About
ten years ago, I was busy dusting the items on my secretary desk when I picked up the Bible that had
been sitting on the desktop for years. The Bible belonged to my father. It was fragile and the pages had
a tendency to cling to each other. The cover dropped open to a page that I had never seen. It was a hand
written inscription that said: Presented to Bill Patterson for special work done in the Paris,
Tennessee revival, November 1930. Dr. E. L. Thompson, Evangelist. Read John 14:1 and live by it.
How had I missed this page? I turned to John 14:1 and read the red lettered verse that quoted Jesus
saying, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God; believe also in me."
The sacred was suddenly manifested on the yellowed pages of my dad’s Bible! My father was telling me
to read this verse and live by it. My father, whose voice I had not heard since I was six years old, was
specking clearly and distinctly to me and telling me how to live a life of peace. His advice was simple
and to the point. The alphabet of grace came to together to spell out the words, "Let not your heart be
troubled, believe in God, believe in me."
In Buechner’s book, he chronicles a day from morning to night. He uncovers revelations in the
mundane. My father pointed me to The Divine in the midst of dusting. A life of peace is possible when I
do not reduce God to fit into my troubled heart, but believe God is be far bigger than any troubles
within my heart.
My father’s guidance continues to echo in my soul and reminds me to believe in God, believe in
Christ. My dad was a wise man and a good father.
May we celebrate Father’s Day knowing that we share one father; God the Father; Our Father, who
art in heaven… deliver us from our TROUBLED HEARTS… Amen.
In peace,
Billie+
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SPIRITUALITY & WORSHIP
