Practicing Advent

This is the time of year when the Church is most counter to the culture.

Remember that the first day of Christmas in not until December 25. Even so, there is much in our culture that pressures us to rush to the manger, now – even though it’s weeks before Christmas will actually be here. There’s a radio station that’s been playing Christmas music 24/7 for weeks. On TV, political ads have given way to Christmas ads. There are cards to write and baking to do, “holiday” activities on the calendar.

But – why the rush? Is there a better way to spend these next weeks?

That’s what we ask, in the Church. In the Church, it’s not Christmas yet. It’s Advent.

Advent means “coming” or “arrival.” The spiritual practice for these weeks is to watch for God’s advent into our lives and into the world. The tasks of this season are to listen in prayer so that our ache for God comes to consciousness; to nurture hope in the coming Christ; to watch for how God enters in, precisely in those places where we are unfulfilled.

Watch for these themes in our Advent worship. Watch for all of this, in the Scripture readings on Sunday mornings, in the hymns we sing, in the words we pray.

Watch for God’s advent into our human flesh.

When we give ourselves to the preparation of Advent, the Spirit reminds us of how much we need Christ. And that allows us to joyously receive Christ, when we finally celebrate Christmas!

So, not “Merry Christmas” yet. Rather, “Blessed Advent.”

In recent weeks, I haven't been on my road bike (AKA "the most beautiful road bike in the City of Williamsburg and the Counties of James City and York"):



That's because, in the early mornings of recent weeks, the temperature has been in the 30s -- which I think is too cold for me since my lung disease -- and/or it's been rainy. And then, darkness comes so early in the afternoon that I've been getting home after dark. But today: hallelujah! This morning the temperature was 42 degrees and the roads were dry. So I went out for about 16 miles! It felt awfully good!

My goal for this year was to ride 2,500 miles on the road bike. That would have put me at about 3,000 total miles for the year. (That grand total would include miles on my commuting bike, AKA "the most beautiful commuting bike in the City of Williamsburg and the Counties of James City and York"):



But, being away for a month during my sabbatical, and losing the miles in recent weeks, I'm not going to be able to get to 3,000. I figure I'll be at about 2,700 miles by December 31.

That's not bad!

7 Seminarians from St. Stephen, Williamsburg

This was published more than a month ago, in the supplement to the Lutheran magazine that went to subscribers living in Virginia. (Those of you who read this long ago can skip it!) I'm only now getting around to putting it on the blog. It's a real "YAY US!" piece.

St. Stephen, Williamsburg, is well-represented in seminary classes and related activities this fall by six women and one man who have ties to the congregation - perhaps an ELCA record. A mother and daughter are longtime members of the congregation, while five are College of William and Mary graduates who walked across the street to worship at St. Stephen while they were at school. The seven seminarians:

• Haley Poynter is a May graduate of Roanoke College and member of St. Stephen. She enters the Lutheran Seminary at Gettysburg, where her mother, Kate Schroeder, is already enrolled.

• Kate Schroeder, a former nurse and a St. Stephen member, is a senior at Gettysburg.

• Mike Powell has been traveling in Asia doing research on the church in China. He is on internship from Trinity Lutheran Seminary, working in Jerusalem this fall.

• Kate Proctor, from St. John, Abingdon, completed a year at the Lutheran Seminary
at Philadelphia. She has worked in children's ministry at Holy Communion, Portsmouth, and in clinical pastoral education at a veterans' center in Johnson City, Tenn. She is doing field education at Lutheran Advocacy Ministry of Pennsylvania.

• Leslie Scanlon, a member of First, Norfolk, has entered Philadelphia Seminary.

• Deanna Scheffel, from Our Saviour, Warrenton, is in her first year at Lutheran Southern Seminary.

• Brett Wilson of Christ the King, Richmond, is starting at Philadelphia Seminary.

Kim Beckmann, ELCA director for ministry leadership-candidacy and deployment, said several congregations "located in the backyard of seminaries" have produced eight or nine minis¬terial candidates. The Williamsburg seven may have a record for a congregation "not across the street from a seminary," she added.

By any measure, St. Stephen is "way above average," Beckmann said. In 2004, the ELCA average was one ordination candidate for every 884 confirmed/communing members. St. Ste¬phen had 444 confirmed/communing members at last report.

The students credited the influence and encouragement of the Rev. Andy Ballentine and the support of the congregation for the Lutheran Student Association at William and Mary. Ballentine has "embraced and taught a theology in which God is active and moving in the world and we as Christians are invited into that process," Proctor said. The congregation has sought volunteers as "adopted parents." They have committed space in the church for LSA and have invited students to join the choir and act as lectors, assisting ministers and worship leaders.

Through his role as a discernment advocate for Project Connect, Ballentine has often led conversations among young adults about the work God is calling them to do.

Scanlon said the number of seminarians "could happen anywhere, it is simply a result of people with gifts for the ordained ministry hav¬ing their gifts affirmed and being encouraged to discern their call from God. Congregations must resist the urge to put every active youth in a pastor box and instead affirm their unique gifts and aid them in discerning how God is calling them to live out their vocational call," she said.

Schroeder said seminary isn't for everybody. It would be "a difficult and unproductive experience for someone for whom God is calling to do something else."

Because William and Mary is a small liberal arts college focused on service, Scheffel said its students "might have a slight predisposition to go into ministry of some form." Conversations about vocation by Ballentine and the church community start "at a very young age about your life circumstances and who God is calling you to be within these contexts," she said.

Powell spent much time in the college room at the church, accessible 24 hours a day. The church community "was more than anything a safe place," he said. "I remember seeing the steeple as 1 ran from class to class and being reminded of God and a community that cared." At St. Stephen, away from the pres¬sures and schedules of college, "I loved being in a place where people understood life and love in the same way that I did," he said.

Wilson said Ballentine gave her "the tools and lessons to open my mind and heart a little bit to the Spirit and to slow down and see where I would/could be led." She called St. Stephen "a dynamic group of people who are affirming of each other while pushing each other forward in our faith."

Poynter said much of her faith formation from childhood took place at St. Stephen, which is "devoted to building a Christ¬centered community and looking out for one another."

The news reports are Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, graduate of the College of William and Mary, former member of St. Stephen Lutheran Church while a student, former member of the Lutheran Student Association, will stay on as Secretary of Defense for at least a year in the Obama administration.

I just think that is very good news!

This is cute, from this morning's New York Times.

(Of course, the joke presumes the old, pre-scientific three-tiered universe, with a remote God who is "out there" somewhere, far away from us. That is certainly not the case, according to Romans 8:26, and the first sentence in Luther's explanation of the Third Article of the Creed, in his Small Catechism.)

No, I'm not going to tell you what those two references are. You have to look them up yourselves!

On a Ring and a Prayer

By SETH FREEMAN
Los Angeles

PLEASE listen carefully as this menu has changed.

For English press or say “One.” Para español oprima o diga “Dos.” For all other languages press or say “Three.”

One.

Thank you for your interest in our service. If this is a true spiritual emergency, please hang up and dial the number on the upper left-hand corner of the mailing label of your last solicitation. Otherwise, please stay on the line and your prayers will be answered in the order in which they were received.

All right, let’s get started. For prayers of repentance press or say “Two.” For prayers of supplication press or say “Three.” For prayers of forgiveness press or say “Four.” For prayers of serenity press or say “Five.” For all other prayers press or say “Six.”

I guess...Er...Supplic — three. Three. [3]

I think you said, “Two.” Is this correct?

No.

I think you said, “No.” Is this correct?

Yes.

O.K., let’s try that again. For prayers of repentance press or say “Two.” For prayers of supplication press or say “Three.” For prayers —

Three.

— of forgiveness —

Three! [3] [3]

— say “Four.” For prayers of serenity press or say “Five.” For all other prayers press or say “Six.”

Three.

I think you said, “Three.” Is this correct?

Yes. Correct. Yes.

All right, let me see if I can help you. Please say the category for which you are supplicating. For example, if you are praying for help with a personal life problem, say “Problem.” If you are praying for a material object like a new Lexus, say “Car.”

Uh.

I’m sorry. I didn’t understand your answer. Please repeat your answer slowly and clearly.

It’s hard to describe. Things no longer make ... sense ...

I think you said, “Vengeance.” Is this correct?

No.

Good, because Vengeance is mine. Please repeat your answer slowly and clearly.

Prob. Lem.

I think you said, “Problem.” Is this correct?

Yes. Correct.

Thank you. Let me connect you to that department.

[Hold music: Pachelbel, “Canon in D” — tenor sax version (Kenny G)]

Please stay on the line. Your prayer is important to us. Your wait time is approximately seven minutes.

[Hold music]

We’re sorry you are still on hold. We appreciate your patience and look forward to being of service.

[Hold music]

Thank you for holding. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please state the problem for which you would like help. For example, if you would like help healing someone who is sick, you could say, “Illness.” If you would like help in making a woman who barely knows that you exist become interested in you romantically, you could say, “Wingman.”

No more menus.

I’m sorry. I didn’t understand your answer. Please state the problem for which you would like help.

I want help without having to go through six levels of options.

I think you said you would like help with sexual dysfunction. Is this correct?

No.

I think you said, “No.” Is this correct?

Yes.

O.K, please restate your problem. Speak slowly and clearly —

I’m sick of these menus.

I think you said you would like help curing a sickness. Is this correct?

No, no, these menus are driving me crazy.

I think you said you would like help dealing with a mental illness. Is this correct?

No. No, no!

I’m having difficulty understanding the problem for which you are seeking help. Please state your problem slowly and clearly.

My problem is ... I ... forgot why I called.

I think you said you no longer recall your problem. Is this correct?

I guess. I don’t know. Yes.

Excellent. We are pleased to have been of service. How else can we provide you with a wonderful day?
Seth Freeman is a writer for television.

The setting: A cold winter's morning. (Currently, our thermometer reads 27 degres.)

Needed equipment: A forced-air heating system, with a programmable thermostat, to increase the temperature as the inhabitants are waking. A coffee pot with a timer, set so that the coffee begins brewing as the forced-air system kicks on.

The result: The smell of newly-brewed coffee throughout the house.

Is there any small pleasure greater than that smell?

As I wake, my first thought is to give thanks!

On Sitting in a Thai Restaurant Six Days Before Thanksgiving, Listening to Christmas Music

Today at lunchtime, I was in a Thai restaurant on 17th street in Richmond. It was six days before Thanksgiving, for God's sake, but I was hearing Christmas music.

Well, at first I was only hearing muzak -- that background noise that's often playing in public places. But then the radio announcer broke into my consciousness with her cheery, "Happy holidays, everyone!" It was a station called "Lite 98," which has already begun playing Christmas music!

For all I know, Christmas music has been on "Lite 98" for days, weeks; probably since Halloween. That's the start of "the holidays," right? That's when the stores put up the plastic Christmas trees.

I know, I know, it's me who's out of step here. (I realized that while listening to a sappy rendition of "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire.") The thing is, I live in the liturgical world. When I venture outside, it's a wrenching experience.

In the liturgical world, I will be preaching a funeral sermon for dear Jane Bourn tomorrow morning. Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. The next day is Christ the King Sunday, with its visions of the end of time, of final judgment. It is not until the next Sunday that Advent begins.

Christmas? In the liturgical world where I live, Christmas begins 33 days from today.

Even while listening to a sappy arrangement of "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas," and realizing that I'm entirely out of it, I persist in thinking that the liturgical world offers the greater chance for depth of meaning. If it's already "happy holidays," then we're pasting a fake cheer over what we really know is true -- even if we deny it. These are scary times. How much farther will the stock market fall? How much higher will unemployment go? Will the world's economy teeter from a deep recession into a full depression?

Living in the liturgical world, we pay attention to our desperate need -- our emotional need, our spiritual need, our need for God to bring fulfillment. That's what Advent is about.

In the liturgical world, we're honest. We're open. We're looking for the advent of God. We're preparing for the joyous news of Christmas.

But Christmas won't come for another 33 days. By then we will have had time to once again remember our deep need for that joy.

Have you heard that many liberal bloggers are upset with Barack Obama? They're angry because he opposed punishing Joe Lieberman (who, of course, campaigned hard for John McCain), when some Democrats advocated expelling Lieberman from the Democratic caucus in the Senate. They're angry because Obama met with McCain himself, assumedly to begin rebuilding their relationship to benefit future cooperation.

When I heard on NPR that many liberal bloggers are upset with Barack Obama, I thought to myself, "This is GREAT news!" It means that the president-elect might mean what he's been saying for months: that this is not a time for continued partisan gridlock in Washington, but a time for pragmatists to work together, because our nation's problems are just too great.

In fact, I saw another sign of this tantalizing possibility on the "News Hour" a couple of nights ago, when they covered the Republicans and Democrats' naming of their new leadership teams. You know how, during such announcements, there are always legislators clustered around the main person speaking, looking very serious? Well, when the Democrats were clustered around the microphone, there was Tom Carper! Who is Tom Carper? C'mon!! He is none other than the Senior Senator from the First State (now that Joe Biden has gotten a job in the Executive Branch). Carper has been a centrist for his entire career, and there he was, granted a position that put him in clear view of the TV cameras. Now, why was that? It had to be because of his approach to politics; he's certainly not good looking or telegenic!

Seeing Carper reminded me of how excited I was when Mark Warner announced his candidacy for the Senate from Virginia. He said he would be a "radical centrist," working with anyone who is willing to work together to solve our nation's problems.

What a relief, for our leaders to be taking a respite from the Karl Rove-style of politics: of division and demonization.

Here's the latest indication of how weird I am. You know how nobody is reading newspapers anymore? (At least those actually printed, on actual newsprint.) Well, this morning I had a hard time deciding which to read first -- of the four newspapers that arrived at our house. At 5:30 this morning, waiting for me in the driveway were The New York Times, the (Newport News) Daily Press, the twice-weekly (Williamsburg) Virginia Gazette and the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The Gazette is indispensible. Everyone in Williamsburg has his or her picture in that paper sometime during any calendar year, so we in our small town have to keep up with it! The Times is indispensible, because that paper covers stories that no other paper does. It's the Daily Press that's on the way out of our household -- if the Times Dispatch will get here early enough. (We tried the Times Dispatch several years ago, but it didn't arrive until 8:30 in the morning; too late for us to read in the morning. We've heard that there's a better distribution system now. And, indeed, it's arrived very early the past two mornings.)

The Times Dispatch covers Richmond, and one of the things I miss living here in Williamsburg is that I don't live in an urban area, with city problems and issues. So, by reading the paper, I can vicariously be involved in Richmond. And it covers all of Virginia. And, the Times Dispatch is extremely conservative and extremely lively, because many of the paper's readers aren't conservative. As illustration, here's my favorite letter to the editor, in its entirety, from this morning's issue:

Editor, Times-Dispatch:
I excitedly read Ross Mackenzie's assessment of Barack Obama's election, but alas, my hopes of a column free of the word Islamofascist were dashed in his wacky and paranoid conclusions.
Bill Miller, Richmond

I love it! The Daily Press is so boring in comparison.

If The New York Times is indispensible, then so is the Richmond Times-Dispatch. My father, without fail, read the Times and the (Charleston, SC) Post and Courier every morning. He said, "The Times is so liberal, and the Post and Courier is so conservative, that I read them both and figure the truth is somewhere in between."

Well, the Times-Dispatch is every bit as conservative as the Post and Courier!

Will we cancel our subscription to the Daily Press? No. We'll continue to get it on Sundays.

We need to get that TV book, you see.

So I did get back to sleep this morning, at about 5:00. And since it's a Saturday, I slept until about 7:30.

What woke me up at 3:30 AM was some severe heartburn. Too much rich food at last night's Dining In group dinner! It was ok to be awakened then because it was a good time to take the night-time dose of anti-fungal medicine. But, at 3:30 AM, I was WIDE awake. There was no chance of sleeping for a while. That's because of the needs of a few parishioners who came to mind immediately when I woke.

A friend and former parishioner, Shannon Wall, was ordained a minister in the United Church of Christ a couple of months ago. She sent me a copy of the sermon preached by her colleague, the Rev. Larry Wood. It's one of the best ordination sermons I've heard or read; in particular, these lines:

"When you care for a few hundred people in any authentic way, their concerns ride in the car with you as you go home, and crawl into bed with you at night.

"As plenty of folks over the years have said, this line of work isn't our idea. Being called is God's idea."

What to do when those concerns contribute to sleeplessness? At 3:30 AM, it was good to open a book that Pastor Rich Olson alerted me to during my sabbatical: Transformational Ministry, by Michael Jinkins. I have found this little book to be indispensable for my health! A few lines:

(Jinkins cites the great Reformer, John Calvin, concerning a way) to understand the theological significance of the minister's work: as placing ourselves at God's disposal as God seeks to transform persons through the renewing of their minds into the likeness of Jesus Christ.

...we do not perform our ministry in isolation as though it is something we produce, something we can be proud of, something that depends on our strength and intelligence and skills. There is a restful quality in Calvin's discussion of our ministry, a restful, trustful quality grounded in the awareness that our ministry is given to us by God; and that which God gives, God empowers.

The success of our ministry does not depend on us. Our ministry and indeed, our entire lives are in God's hands, as though we are tools in the hands of a skilled carpenter. And, while we are responsible to be good tools, the work is not accomplished because of our sharpness. God accomplishes God's ministry with even the dullest of tools.

I wonder if even Calvin was "restful" and "trustful" every night at 3:30 AM? Probably not. But, spending some time in prayer, remembering that the work is not something that depends on my strength and intelligence and skills, allows this pastor to go back to bed and to get some more sleep before morning comes.

More and more I am less enamored of big-time collegiate athletics, and more enthusiastic about small college athletics. I like the idea that, at Division 1-AA schools like the College of William and Mary and at Division III schools, the point is still for athletes to go to class and to graduate (rather than simply being kept just barely academically eligible for four seasons of the jock's particular sport).

I remember talking about this one time with Dan Stimson, a member of St. Stephen who is Director of Track and Field at the College. Dan was a star athlete himself in his high school and college days, and started out his professional career as a track coach at the University of Tennessee. He's been at William and Mary for more than 20 years, now, and appreciates the priorities at a Division 1-AA school. At one point in the conversation he said, "You know, a school like Tennessee just has too much money."

I thought of Dan while reading the article below in this morning's New York Times.

At Haverford, Tossing It All in Name of Teaching

By BILL PENNINGTON
Published: November 13, 2008

HAVERFORD, Pa. — Holding his award in his hands, Tom Donnelly, Haverford College’s longtime men’s cross-country and track coach, walked to the banks of the Mississippi River and tossed the trophy in the water. This was 2001, but it could have been any of several years that Donnelly has won an N.C.A.A. Division III Coach of the Year award.

He throws them all away.

“Usually in the garbage,” Donnelly said, explaining that the 2001 season happened to come to an end next to the Mississippi. “We ran terrible that day, so I wasn’t waiting. I blamed myself.”

At Haverford and in the clubby track and cross-country culture nationwide, the trophy-in-the-river story has a place in the considerable Donnelly lore. It goes along with the 62 regional and conference championships, the 113 all-Americans and 24 individual N.C.A.A. champions in Donnelly’s 34-year tenure at Haverford, one of the nation’s smallest liberal-arts colleges.

“Dunking that trophy is typical Tom and maybe explains his unbelievable success at such a small college,” said Marcus O’Sullivan, the four-time Olympian who is now the head coach at Villanova University, a Division I track powerhouse. “Any time in the last 20 years Tom could have gone anywhere he wanted in college coaching. He’s that good. But Haverford has been his team and he could never get himself to look past any new class of kids coming in. He wanted to help them, so he has stayed. And look what he’s done.”

On Saturday, Haverford, the five-time defending champion, competes in the N.C.A.A. Mideast Regional cross-country championships.

Standing next to the track on Haverford’s Philadelphia-area campus last month, Donnelly, a voracious reader of American history books, acknowledged at least one regret.

“I do feel bad about that trophy I threw in the Mississippi, because you don’t want to pollute an important, historic waterway,” he said. “But I don’t want any of those trophies. I appreciate the gesture, but a coaching award distracts from the essence of a coach’s job, which is to educate the students. You can only justify the existence of a team at a college campus if being on the team benefits the athletes’ educational experience.

“Being a truly committed member of a team can be a highly valuable learning experience. That’s what is important, not some trophy.”

Perhaps then, Donnelly will be pleased by another achievement of his track team: It had the highest cumulative grade-point average (3.43) of any men’s Division III track team this year.

In his nearly three and a half decades at Haverford, one of the most selective colleges in the United States, Donnelly has developed a reputation as something of a spiritual running guru who molds teams of decent but not exceptional high school athletes into elite college runners. As a Division III institution, Haverford awards no athletic scholarships, and Donnelly still recruits by writing letters to prospective runners in long hand.

More than high schoolers have been drawn to Donnelly, who as a former all-American at Villanova has deep technical knowledge in the sport. During the 1980s and 1990s, Sydney Maree, the world record holder in the 1,500 meters, and O’Sullivan, then the three-time indoor world champion in the 1,500, went to the Haverford track to be coached by Donnelly.

“I was one of those far from exceptional high school runners who arrived at Haverford and was swept along by the program and Tom’s teachings,” said J. B. Haglund, who as a senior in 2001-2 won the Division III championship in cross-country, 5,000 and 10,000 meters. “I remember one day seeing Marcus O’Sullivan on the track doing a Tom workout, and I remember that Tom spent as much time working with the slowest kid on our team that day as he did with Marcus.

“Whoever you are, if you want to come and work hard, Tom has time for you. He says this over and over: ‘The team is only as strong as the commitment of the least-accomplished person on the team.’ ”

When he left Villanova nearly 40 years ago, Donnelly landed his first coaching job at a Philadelphia-area high school. He inherited a last-place, dispirited cross-country team.

Donnelly understood immediately what was going to be his core coaching philosophy, and as dozens of his other teams would later find out as well, his primary coaching messages are not delivered in conventional form.

This first Donnelly team attended a preseason high school camp in the backwoods of Pennsylvania. One night, in the dark, Donnelly took the team out for a walk.

“It was pitch black and all these Philly kids were way out of their element as we walked along following my single flashlight,” Donnelly said. “Suddenly, I turned off the flashlight. I waited about 10 seconds, and when I turned it back on, they were all huddled together, trying to find some strength or courage in a close group. And I said to them, this is how a team works. If you come together, you will get through the times when you really need each other.”

Donnelly’s first team won its league championship.

Decades later, Donnelly’s methods have changed some, but they have remained unorthodox. Last month, a prerace pep talk was laced with tales of Civil War battles and a trivia question about a Philadelphia baseball pitcher with a Civil War link. (The Hall of Fame pitcher Eddie Plank was born in Gettysburg.) What was Donnelly’s point?

“You may be really nervous about this race right now, but this is something we do for fun and it is not pressure,” Donnelly later said. “Nobody is shooting at you in battle. History gives us real examples of pressure. Go back to the Great Depression. Pressure is not having a job with five starving kids. This is a race. All you have to do is try your very best. Then you cannot lose.”

Kevin Foley, who graduated from Haverford in 1983, was a member of one of Donnelly’s early teams and the first Haverford track performer to earn a national championship when he won the 1981 N.C.A.A. 1,500 title.

“No one would have predicted the success Tom has gone on to have at such a small school like Haverford,” Foley said. “For a team to place high at the N.C.A.A. cross-country championships, you have to get five guys to be among the top 50 finishers. So with about 500 men at Haverford, Tom has to get 1 percent of the male student body to be among the country’s best 50 runners. That’s insane.”

Donnelly has needed a dose of perspective to deal with some recent results for his team, whose second-place finish behind Dickinson College in the Centennial Conference championships ended a streak of 15 consecutive Haverford titles. One of Haverford’s top performers broke his leg earlier this season, and several of the team’s runners have been slowed by sickness.

“It’s not what we expected, but we acknowledge the other team’s accomplishment and we recover,” Donnelly said. “It goes back to the essence of the educational experience. What can be learned from it? Probably a lot.”

On many evenings at Haverford, Donnelly can be found inside his office meticulously plotting the next day’s workout or composing his neat, handwritten letters to recruits.

Looming above him on the walls, crammed from floor to ceiling, are more than 100 framed all-American certificates. One entire wall is just for Haverford track or cross-country national champions.

Why, he was asked, was it acceptable to keep and display those awards?

“Those recognize the achievements of some people who worked extremely hard and had great teammates,” Donnelly answered. “I didn’t have anything to do with those.”

Some trees have lost their leaves. But, over the past week or so, most trees have been showing glorious colors. And today looks like the day when all the leaves will dump to the ground. (I'm sure that's an exaggeration. I'm sure it will take a few days!)

In any event, just watching the leaves today makes it clear why this season is called "fall." When I arrive at the church office this morning, as is true every morning, the pre-school kids were gathering in the playground as they were dropped off. There were so many leaves falling that the popular game was to try to catch them!

For today, forget the fact that we'll be raking and blowing and bagging and hauling all these leaves. Today, enjoy the joyful, beautiful abundance of the leaves as they fall! What a gift from God!

This time of year makes me think about going to Williamsburg for Thanksgiving.

We did that, for 22 years, before actually moving to Williamsburg. Those were years when we lived in Towson Maryland, and then Virginia Beach, and then Wilmington, Delaware. We would arrive with the kids in the car, to find days that were beautiful and cool. Some leaves would still be on the trees, but most would be on the ground. The scent of wood fires would be in the evening air.

Have you looked up today? I was driving to the church office from a breakfast meeting just now. I turned left off 199 onto Jamestown Road, and came down the hill towards Lake Matoaka -- and what a stunning display of colors, in the leaves of the canopy over the road! What a rich blue of sky for a backdrop!

What blessings God gives to us each day. How joyful it is, to live thankfully. What are you thankful for today?

Today is Veteran's Day. We give thanks for those who have given military service for our nation, and those serving today. I pray that we use our great military strength to be a beacon on the hill, of justice and righteousness.

It was another night of sleep deprivation -- shades of the World Series. But it was worth it, to hear John McCain and Barack Obama speak.

John McCain's concession speech was unbelievably gracious -- even as he had to pause several times to quiet meanspirited boos in the audience, as he verbally held out his hand to Barack Obama. Bitterness was absent. It was a remarkable speech by a great man.

And there was no end zone celebration in Obama's victory speech. Instead, it was full of humility, in the face of the work that needs to be done. Hubris was absent. It was a remarkable speech by a great man.

Let us pray that these two great men will be able to lead their followers forward in the same spirit of graciousness and humility (two characteristics Paul identifies as "fruit of the Spirit!"), to do the work that needs to be done.

Election Day. This is truly an exciting day for me. I cannot imagine how it is that people choose not to vote when there's an election!

It looks like there are few making that choice this year. In fact, I got together with one of the Lutheran college students yesterday over a cup of coffee, and one of his first questions was, "Have you voted yet?" A new paradigm! (I love working with college students, who startle me so often, because their assumptions are so different from mine.) He was right: with all the methods of voting early, it's no longer Election Day. It's Election Season.

Still, it's exciting, I think, to be at the polling place on the first Tuesday of November. With the forecast of big crowds, it's the first time that I've had to plan strategy: when do I have time to stand in line? I have a lunch meeting today in Yorktown which will end at 2:00, and then an appointment at 4:00 back in Williamsburg. Ordinarily, I'd swing by the polling place on the way back into town. But would I have time to wait? And then, after the 4:00 appointment, won't the lines be very long, with people voting on their way home from work?

For Patty, it's been a dilemma too. She is teaching all day, and then has play practice after school. (She's doing rehearsal music for the Walsingham Academy Upper School's production of "Bye Bye Birdie.") Her decision was to go to the polling place at 6:15 AM. She had to wait to 45 minutes. Not bad.

My strategy is to wait until people with real jobs have to be at work, and to vote at about 9:00 AM. We'll see how that works out.

Not long ago, I saw a billboard advertising Rolex watches. It made me wonder: does anyone decide to buy a Rolex watch because s/he sees a billboard advertisement?

I wonder the same thing about the yard signs advertising political candidates. They are more prevalent than mushrooms in this "battle ground" state the day before the election. Lots and lots of money has been spent on them. Do they sway any votes?

Maybe people put them out for presence -- because there are yard signs in favor of the other candidates.

(That's the reason why we have a Saturday advertisement on the church page of the Virginia Gazette. In seven-and-a-half years here, I have never talked with a visitor who worshiped at St. Stephen because of the Gazette ad. The website is where the action is. That's where newcomers and visitors check us out before they appear in our building. Indeed, the Gazette ad is never changed, so when we vary our schedule, or suspend Faith Formation classes for the summer, it is wrong! But I've never heard from anyone who's picked up on that. So -- why do we persist in paying for that weekly ad? It's because King of Glory has one! We have to maintain a presence.)

My favorite yards are the ones with multiple signs advertising every one of the candidates a particular political party is running. So, you see Obama, Warner and Day signs, right in a row. Or, you see McCain, Gilmore and Whitman signs, lined up side-by-side. Is that display persuasive? Or is the homeowner communicating: "I am a die-hard Democrat/Republican, and if my party nominated a gerbil, that's who I'd vote for"?

The other day I saw a yard with two signs. One was a McCain sign, and the other was a Warner sign. Remarkable. Someone who thinks independently!