Imagine, if you will, a group of Episcopalians standing together and talking just before the start of the Pentecost service. It’s the annual bishop’s visit and last minute preparations are being made. The acolyte master says, “Eucharistic minster, the verger will meet you in the narthex.” And the lector adds, “right near the acolytes and the thurifer.” The curate then says, “Anyone seen the canon to the ordinary?” and the associate rector replies, “I saw him talking to the suffragan near the sacristy....

◉ Good morning! Now, to be clear, I’m not Thomas Alexander, your curate coming later this summer. I am Jason Alexander, who was your curate about 17 years ago. And it’s good to be back. Thanks, Dean Meaux, for inviting me to preach here at Trinity today. To catch you up, since I left the cathedral I’ve been down the hall in the bishop’s office serving as the Canon to the Ordinary, working with our 54 congregations from the Ozarks to the Delta–facilitating clergy transitions, troubleshooting, and helping our bishop be the bishop....

Almighty God, Lord of heaven and earth: We humbly pray that your gracious providence may give and preserve to our use the harvests of the land and of the seas, and may prosper all who labor to gather them, that we, who are constantly receiving good things from your hand, may always give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever....

I recently had the honor of baptizing my eight-year-old nephew. He is the greatest kid. He’s into baseball, soccer, Ironman, and the Lord of the Rings; he mostly gets along with his older sister; and he’s always up for a wrestling match. Matthew lives across the street, and on any given day I’ll see him kicking goals in his driveway, running around with his dog, Luna, or whooping through an NBA video game with his cousins....

☊ Among all the natural wonders that our world has to offer, one that never fails to capture my imagination is the return of the sun above the Arctic Circle around this time of year. Just a couple weeks ago–January 23 to be exact–the sun peaked from behind the horizon for about an hour, the fist time it had done so since November 18. For the inhabitants of that frigid region on our globe, that’s 66 days without a sunrise....