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The healing I see of the faces of people when the priest says "All are welcome at God's table"

These are responses of congregation members to questions printed on posters in the parish hall in preparation for our CLAD (Congregational Life and Development) retreat.

Good Grief   At first glance Charlie Brown's comment seems like an oxymoron: how can grief be good? There is the loss, the suffering, the pain, the anguish and the absence, the anger and the frustration. We experience after-shocks in much the same way after-shocks occur following an earthquake or the flooding following a hurricane: wave upon wave of disturbing emotions wash over us. We cannot stand.

And then there is the pause, a lull in the fury, a numbness and a quiet that is just as bewildering as the tempest. We catch our breath and move on only to be struck again by other overwhelming feelings: loneliness, isolation, fear. Anxiety becomes a routine companion and we wonder if life will ever return to "normal." We don't want our life to move on--we want our old life back. But in the stillness we know we can never go back and soon we realize that to go back would be to deny reality, frustrate hope, and deprive meaning and honor to what has happened. This quietness, this stillness carries the promise of the quality of peace and serenity. Not easily won but available.

Authors such as Elizabeth Kubler-Ross have taught us that there are stages to grieving. What their descriptions lack is both the intensity of and humbling nature of the emotions as well as the reoccurrence and reemergence of these emotional stages. They are not tangible goals that you can accomplish and move away from and have done with. Nor are these stages in any real order so that one can move from one to another. Neither are they predictable nor controllable. Rather they are moments that cause us to pause, and the quietness in the pause gives meaning to our experience.

Two factors mitigate and mediate grief: the durability of memory and community. Fredrick Buechner describes the loss of a father, "The sadness was I lost a father I had never fully found. It's like a tune that ends before you've heard it out. Your whole life through you search to catch the strain, and seek the face you've lost in stranger's faces." (Godric, p. 51). Sure, some memories fade with time but others linger and the ones we choose to remember are the ones that help define our loss and shape who we are becoming.

Also, we are never alone in our grieving. We may deeply feel the pain and anguish of loneliness, but just as no one ever really lives in isolation, so also no one ever really dies in isolation. There are witnesses and fellow mourners who come to our aid and we can see just how large the community is in which we live. The joy of such a community is a blessing we all too seldom remember. Grief over loss is one of the strongest bonds a community shares.

Of course I have been talking about my own sorrowing over the deaths of many friends and family over the years: in particular my grandfather over fifty years ago, my father forty years ago, my wife fourteen years ago, and my mother seven years ago. I've had several dreams about them lately and it is a sweet sorrow I now feel. A grief freshly reawakened. But I believe what I have said holds true for many kinds of loss and many of the little deaths we each face every day: the loss of an item, a thing, a pet, a collogue, or co-worker. We do well to take time to remember those we have loved and lost.

All of these losses point back to the two great losses that all humanity shares: the loss of the Garden of Eden and the death of our Lord. The fall from grace is what defines us all as sinners. We seldom feel this as an emotional pang. Perhaps this is because we don't remember Paradise. A fondness for halcyon days is our sentimental best. Our personal faults and failures, the sins we own, evoke more of the passion of pain. It is in our remembering of Jesus' life that our life takes on greater meaning and it is in his resurrection and promise of a return to paradise that our life takes on hope. This is good grief indeed.

Rob +

In January at the annual parish meeting the Vestry presented an annual budget of $700,000 to the congregation. We knew that we would have to track the Budget very carefully and we promised to make a full report about the state of the budget to the congregation in July. That report was given on July 6 and 13. 

Additionally, a letter was recently sent from the Vestry regarding the status of Father Rob Clarke, whose last Sunday with us will be August 10. The Vestry will hold an "open forum" parish meeting this Sunday at 10:15am in the Nave in order to go over our plan for the fall. Please make plans to join us - and please keep Father Rob and his family in your prayers during this time of transition.

A written summary of the financial reports, as well as a copy of the letter sent regarding Father Rob, are both posted on the website at www.all-angels.com/vestry.html. 

Children's Chapel, Godly Play, and youth classes are taking a break for the summer. Children are ALWAYS welcome in worship at any service - grab a children's worship packet on your way in for some activities to engage kids during the service.

We are looking for somebody with web skills as well as electronic and print media expertise to fill our part-time (18 hr/week) Communications Specialist position. If this is you, please submit a resume to the Vestry!

Community Connections will begin collecting Box Tops for Education to benefit La Luz Elementary School. Box Tops are the bright pink symbols featuring a yellow pencil found on product packaging from brands such as Pillsbury, Kleenex, General Mills cereals, Betty Crocker, etc. Schools can cash these in to get library books and other supplies. For a complete list of participating products, visit the Box Tops for Education web site. A collection box is in the Parish Hall on the table along the north side. Questions? Call Adele Davies at 897-7398.

We are also happy to report that the two bushel baskets of knit/crochet hats, scarves and gloves we gave our neighborhood school, La Luz, last year were big hits with the children. So, Community Connections is again asking the knitters and crocheters of SMAA to get out your needles and hooks, and stitch hats, scarves and gloves. Beanies, watch caps, and slouch hats are popular with the kids in grays, blacks, navy blues, pinks and purples. We will be collecting them through the month of September along with outer wear such as hoodies, and sweat pants. The La Luz staff is very grateful for all the clothes we provided last year. Many times they were able to provide clothing for a child with only one outfit. As for the hats, scarves and gloves - they were just fun for the kids to have to wear.

This is a heartfelt plea from the Altar Guild to the ladies of the parish. Cosmetic manufacturers continue to make lipstick more and more indelible, so please blot your lipstick before coming up to Communion. It's very hard to remove from the purificators which are used to wipe the edge of the chalice between communicants, and the small linens are quite expensive to replace when all efforts to remove the stains are inadequate. PLEASE. Thank you. 

We hope you will join us this Sunday after the 9:00 service for cake and coffee as we celebrate Howard Tessler's birthday!

St. Michael and All Angels will begin our second 2014 United Thank Offering (UTO) season on August 17. We have placed UTO "little blue boxes" and envelopes in the card rack in the back of the Narthex if you would like to get a head start. For all others, we will distribute the folded boxes along with your service bulletin on Sunday August 17. We ask that you to return your filled "little blue box" on Michaelmas Sunday, September 28.

Building one's relationship with God is a day to day ministry; as is the ministry of the United Thank Offering. A ministry built daily through love, prayers, understanding, thankfulness, faith, hope and giving.   Each day, pause a few minutes from your busy life to reflect on your many blessings, and drop your change into the little blue box as a token of thankfulness. Combined with UTO contributions from other Episcopal churches, your change will multiply into millions of dollars to go towards the fulfilment of God's mission in the world.

"Our change changes lives"

Dinner 4 Eight groups will be forming soon for the 2014 -2015 season.  This is a great way for the members of St. Michael's and All Angels Church to meet and get to know their fellow parishioners better.  The dinners are a purely social event with no agenda except for having fun.  The small groups meet at their host's home where the main dish is provided, everyone else provides the rest of the meal from appetizers to dessert.  The next dinner is at someone else's home, then another, then another with groups usually getting together 4 or 5 times through the year.  Contact Kevin or Kal at [email protected] or call 255-2822.

Markets are at all time highs. The Dow Jones, NASDAQ and S&P 500 are breaking records and the forecasts seem optimistic. Great! But what does this have to do with our beloved St Michael's?

Did you know you can increase your giving and possibly save money on taxes by donating appreciated stock to St Michael's? Here's how it works:

• Suppose you bought shares of Google in 2012 when it was selling at approximately $300 per share. (This works with any appreciated stock owned more than 12 months)
• If you sold that stock today, you would get about $550 per share. A gain of $250... great!
• You could sell the Google stock, pay the capital gains tax*, and donate the difference to St Michael's.

Or you could donate the actual stock itself and possibly increase your gift!

• Your donation would be the full $550 per share and you wouldn't have to pay the taxes.
• Your actual out-of-pocket expense was $300 per share but your gift (and tax deduction) is $550!
• It's a win-win!

Do you own appreciated stock, or other assets, that you would consider giving to St Michael's? It's a great idea at any time, but especially now during our transition and decreased giving is making it tough to keep our vital ministries moving forward.

For more information on gifts of stock, click here. Or for a confidential discussion of your charitable options, please email or call our legacy giving specialist and St. Michael's parishioner, Richard Lamport, at 505-508-1066. Please see our contact page for more information about Dick.

* Long-term capital gains tax rate ranges from 0% - 20% depending on your tax bracket. Please consult your tax advisor for more information.

Recovery Ministry of the Diocese of the Rio Grande is pleased to sponsor the 2014 Serenity Retreat on July 25-27, 2014 at The Bosque Center. It is for those who are in or interested in 12 Step recovery programs for addiction and substance abuse. Speaker Fr. Bill Wigmore brings us Conscious Contact with  God, an 11th step workshop that traces the spiritual principles of Alcoholics Anonymous back to the Oxford Group roots: a life-changing program centered on a daily meditation practice they called Quiet Time. The Retreat will begin at 6:00p on Friday, July 25, and adjourn with a 12 Step Eucharist Sunday morning, July 27. Registration is $125 and includes lodging, or $85 for commuters. For more information or to register, visit www.dioceserg.org/events/display/58.