In almost a month, my wife and I will be packing our bags and moving down south to Vero Beach, Florida, where I'll serve as curate of St. Mark's Anglican Church.I will certainly miss Baltimore, as I have lived here all my life (though I was actually born in Miami). Some of the things I will miss the most will be church-related people and things. I'll my spiritual director and confessor, Fr. Charles McClean, SSC, along with everyone else at Mt. Calvary Church. I'll miss making the rounds to the various Choral Evensong services around town. I'll miss being so close to New York City and Washington, DC. I'll miss being near to the Icon and Book Service (Washington), as well as The Newman Bookstore, which is the greatest theological bookstore on the planet. I'll miss spending hours snooping around the dark recesses of the fantastic library of my alma mater, St. Mary's Seminary. I'll miss walking up the street and looking around at the Episcopal bookstore, St. Bede's, and laughing under my breath at all of the weird New Age stuff they get in. And there is so much more that I will miss that I don't have space to mention.
All of that may sound boring to some, and maybe it is. But to me it is all so exciting and enriching. It's those simple things in life that make it so wonderful and worth living. I think that many people would be much happier and more fulfilled if they took the time to appreciate the finer points of their own life as God has given it to them. When we are thankful for the little things in life, and strive to live a life of simplicity, we begin to be transformed. Slowly we cease to be concerned about gaining more possessions and power. We slow down, and find ourselves with a mind and soul that is able to contemplate greater things... the things that are really worthwhile, and that do not fade away, such as love, relationships, and God.
