Finding God in Daily Life 3

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The Saints of God

By the Rev. Canon Jenny Vervynck

I sing a song of the saints of God Patient and brave and true, Who toiled and fought and lived and died For the Lord they loved and knew. And one was a doctor, and one was a queen, And one was a shepherdess on the green: They were all of them saints of God -- and I mean,

God helping, to be one too. Hymn 293, The Hymnal 1982

The saints of God are those extraordinary people of our history that we often associate with church calendars and icon paintings. We name churches after them, read their stories to children and come to know them as people who lived their lives “for the Lord they loved and knew” in ways and in places we can only imagine. But the wonderful hymn above by Lesbia Scott reminds us that the saints of God, “are just folks like me,” and you.

The early Christians were all called saints. Over time, the traditional usage of the term “saint” came to refer to a person who is recognized as having attained a certain level of holiness. The word itself means “holy” and is derived from the Latin, sanctus. In the New Testament, it is used to describe the followers of Jesus. The use of “saint” in popular culture often speaks of a simple feeling of thanks and respect for someone’s special efforts.

“Labor Day is a wonderful day to honor and recognize the many vocations in our communities,and to celebrate those vocations as ministries during our Sunday services.”

Our Prayer Book catechism reminds us that we are all, lay persons and ordained persons, called by God as followers of Jesus to lives of ministry, living our mission as baptized Christians. But what we sometimes forget is that we are ministers of the Gospel, not only in our Church, but in our communities and in our world. Verna Dozier wrote about the ministry of all persons in

her book, The Authority of the Laity, saying,

“If I believe that there is a loving God, who has created me and wants me to be part of a

Road Trip

By the Rev. Tim Schenck

Driving a mini-van is not cool. I’ve tried everything to enhance my image while behind the wheel but nothing works. Sleek sunglasses, blasting Led Zeppelin on the stereo, peeling out. No matter what I do, I still look more like a soccer mom than a NASCAR dad.

For many auto enthusiasts, you are what you drive. So tooling around town in a muscle car or a BMW or a pickup truck is an extension of your personality. I don’t fully buy this but what I drive is certainly an extension of my stage in life. And I can just imagine the look Bryna would shoot me if I announced I was getting myself a sporty new two- seater. It’s not happening. But 15

people who will carry the good news of the love of that God to the world, what difference does that make when I go to my office at 9 o’clock Monday morning? What difference does it make in my office that I believe that there is a loving God, that God loves me, and that God loves all human beings exactly as that God loves me? What different kinds of decisions do I make? What am I called to do in that office?”

Our Baptismal Covenant provides us with a framework, a mission statement, a commitment to our ministry in the world. As we serve God in those many places God has placed us, we are guided by our call to continue in the apostles teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayer, in resisting evil and in repentance and returning when we fall into sin, in proclaiming the Good News of God in Christ, in seeking and serving Christ in all persons,

years from now? Look out.

My first car was a bright red 1980 Volkswagen Rabbit. Now, that was a thing of beauty. A souped-up, four-speed stick shift with black vinyl seats and no air conditioning. Climate control meant rolling down all the windows and driving fast. My friends and I would cram into that thing like clowns at a circus and speed all over the place. If your first car is the ultimate symbol of freedom, the mini-van is the ultimate symbol of domestic imprisonment. “Fully-loaded” used to mean a sunroof, AC, and a hot stereo; now it means 16 cup holders and a DVD player. And, let’s face it; you can’t go out cruising in a Honda Odyssey. Well, you could, but it would be called driving the car pool.

Despite all the technological advances, families still do take

loving our neighbor as ourselves, and in striving for justice and peace, respecting the dignity of every human being.

We each carry our ministry into our daily life. As we live the commitments of our baptism, we can make a difference in our personal relationships, our families, our communities and our world. How can we live out our Baptismal Covenant as members of our local community? How can we serve Christ in each person of our family? How can we bring the hopes, dreams and hurts of the community to the Church? How can we bring the Church to the communities in which we live? How can we be better parents, co-workers and friends as we strive for justice and peace? How can our vocations be a reflection of our relationship with God?

Labor Day is a wonderful day to honor and recognize the many vocations in our communities, and to celebrate those vocations as

ministries during our Sunday services. The Episcopal Church offers a helpful resource to guide discussions and celebrations of the ministry of all the baptized. Ministry in

Daily Life: A Guide to Living the Baptismal

Covenant contains articles and discussion guides for ways we can live our baptismal promises, as well as special prayers and liturgies for celebrating vocations as ministry in our daily lives. A copy of that resource is available in the Office of the Bishop.

St. Teresa of Avila said, “Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours; yours are the eyes through which Christ’s compassion is to look out to the earth, yours are the feet by which He is to go about doing good, and yours are the hands by which He is to bless us now.”

We are all the saints of God, right here, right now. How do we live that out in our daily

lives? X

long car trips during summer vacations. This remains a staple of the American experience whether it’s to the Grand Canyon, or Grandma’s house, or just because you view sitting in traffic on the New Jersey Turnpike as quality family time.

The biggest difference between road trips as a kid and a road trip with kids is the whole safety thing. My brother and I used to stretch out in the back of the sedan with nary a seatbelt, booster seat, or side-impact air bag to be found. The only road rage we encountered was the result of Matt having the nerve to place a finger on my side of the back seat. Now the kids are strapped into their car seats, immobilized. And instead of playing the license plate game, they’re watching Shrek until their eyes glaze over. Distances aren’t measured in miles but in movies. “Buckle up,

boys, this is a three movie trip.”

In those brief unplugged moments along the way, car travel lends itself to conversation. A long car ride is the perfect opportunity to catch up with a spouse or a child. Parents of teenagers tell me the car is the perfect place to have important talks with their kids. Mostly because they’re trapped. And when I’m not refereeing disputes and threatening to “turn this car right around,” family trips are great opportunities for quality time with our boys.

One positive change in family travel is the advent of the EZ Pass. When we lived in Baltimore and Bryna’s family lived in New York, we regularly traveled up there for visits and spent plenty of time in toll lines. We had the added challenge of an infant son who invariably woke up from a nap whenever the car stopped. After

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photo credit Johanna Korkko,

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