Hello Very Much Beloveds!

A little story for you this Friday...a couple of weeks ago, Rev. Christina and I went to our annual (and mandatory) Clergy Conference for the Diocese of Atlanta. Every year (with the exception of the years during covid-tide) clergy gather to learn a little, fellowship a little, and worship together. This year one of the clergy, Ruth Lindberg Pattison, among us shared a book she wrote entitled Celtic Ways to Pray, which I picked up thinking I'd simply add to our church library, as many might find it interesting. I, of course, didn't pay much attention to the book, as the tagline was Finding God in Natural Elements. And most of y'all will excuse me for thinking that, since natural elements involve the outside, this book was probably 'not my jam.' 

But darn that Holy Spirit, working in and loving me in spite of this particular block I put in her path. Briefly misplacing my BCP, I picked up the first book on my desk to find a quick prayer for Vestry, and low and behold, I ended up reading Pattison's for a solid half hour. It wasn't a book with prayers while outside (which was what I was expecting), but a book about God reaching out to us in and through everything that is. 

I was delighted to read 'initiatives for prayer' which included prayer art projects, prayer fires, prayer as drumming (which my son is learning about in school) and using this to enter into contemplation of and holy conversation with God. I was equally delighted to find sweet stories of great depth, as one of a four year old who having survived her baby sister, understood her own relationship with God in a way that was incredibly 'embodied.' It was so embodied that hearing the story of Moses and the burning bush, said he must have been really excited, saying, "God is here on earth...can you believe it?"

By and large, this isn't a book about any one method, but a book about relationship...our ever-deepening relationship with the Lover of Our Souls. Not only did the author find a way to remind me that God is always looking for our company, however different or unconventional our ways of conversing may be, AND however determined I am to judge a literal book only by it's cover (and sometimes the outside, as well). The Holy Spirit also found a way to remind me that my own efforts to widen and decolonize my own personal spirituality and also point others to God in ways they can access, won't always involve only what I assume to work without checking it out. 

So anyhoo...now this particular copy is my book. But we'll get one for the library. And whether you ever check it out or not, know this about everything around you, from people to particles (yes, including pollen) in the air, 

"God is here on earth...can you believe it?"

Blessings,

Mo. Nikki+

St. Gregorians' Art Exhibits

Vicky Tavernier and Jenifer Borg have an exhibit of collages made from found objects and poems called "Words About Birds and Insights About Insects. The exhibit will be on display in the Gardenside Room of the Visitor Center from 9/4 through 11/20. Berkeley Boone's exhibit "Nature Photos Just Because", features plants and animals that are often overlooked along with captions about their natural history. The exhibition will be on display in the Great Room of the Visitor Center from 10/16 through 11/20. The opening reception will be on Sunday, 10/16 from 2:00-4:00 PM. June Ball has her paintings up at Aurum Studios on Clayton Street from now through Oct. 31! *and new ones this week:  Science illustrator C. Olivia Carlisle shares insect, plant, and ecosystem illustrations using graphite, charcoal, watercolor, acrylic, ink, colored pencils, and Adobe Photoshop at the Odum School of Ecology Gallery (until May) ; Margaret Agner has 3 silk wall hangings at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, Tennessee as part of the Silk Painters Int’l Exhibit through Oct.16.*