tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49265777308499990112024-03-12T21:30:54.071-04:00 Good Faith and the Common Good<p align="right"><i>the Holy Ghost over the bent
<p align="right">World broods with warm breast
</p><p align="right">and with ah! bright wings.</p></i></p> Sam Candlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18366558046757964328noreply@blogger.comBlogger175125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4926577730849999011.post-86453896003741304232023-12-24T08:35:00.000-05:002023-12-24T08:35:06.887-05:00BE NOT FEAR BE NOT FEAR “The angel said to Mary, “Be not fear.” (Luke 1:30) I thank God for angels. I mean the angels of good, who are all around us. They are all around us in scripture, they are all around us in church, and they are all around us whenever communities of good faith gather together. The word, “angel” means, simply, “messenger.” Angels deliver messages, proclaim Sam Candlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18366558046757964328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4926577730849999011.post-88588387971169939512023-11-19T06:36:00.001-05:002023-11-19T06:36:36.407-05:00THANKSGIVING THIS YEARTHANKSGIVING THIS YEARThis year, I am thankful for grocery store visits. They usually do not start well. I am irritated that our house has run out of something important, and we are supposed to never run out. It might be eggs or butter. It might be toilet paper. So, we assemble a list of other things we need. I will realize later that I have forgotten something. I make my way. I am already aSam Candlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18366558046757964328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4926577730849999011.post-41280320182034605452022-01-14T08:18:00.001-05:002022-01-14T08:20:31.002-05:00PEOPLE ARE KINDPeople Are Kind1/12/202People are kind.Let me interrupt the program. Let me gently interrupt our anxieties and illnesses, let me interrupt our sheer exasperation with this pandemic, with a special notice: People are kind.It seems like the journey we have now walked for almost two years is never ending. We’ve climbed some steep hills looking forward to rest and return, only to see still another Sam Candlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18366558046757964328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4926577730849999011.post-8057353346711032642021-12-20T16:20:00.000-05:002021-12-20T16:20:18.647-05:00MY SOUL MAGNIFIES THE LORD MY SOUL MAGNIFIES THE LORD My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.(Luke 1:46-47) As a child, one of the most fascinating Christmas presents I ever received was a large magnifying glass. It amazed me that such a piece of smooth, curved, glass could make little ants and tiny seeds look so much larger. And, yes, I learned to focus sunlight into crushed Sam Candlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18366558046757964328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4926577730849999011.post-87240558250099126952020-04-04T08:07:00.000-04:002020-04-04T08:07:19.904-04:00THE FEAST OF JOHN DONNE IN THE YEAR 2020
THE FEAST OF JOHN DONNEIN THE YEAR 2020
It is good, so good, that today, March 31, 2020, we keep the feast of John Donne! John Donne is one my personal heroes, because he was what I aspire to be: a strong poet and a devoted dean (though he was a brilliantpoet!). He died as dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral, in London, in 1631.Here is a quick review: Brought up a Roman Catholic just Sam Candlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18366558046757964328noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4926577730849999011.post-359055111162082082018-07-20T07:40:00.000-04:002018-07-20T07:40:14.883-04:00OFFERING AND LETTING GOA Reflection on the 2018 General Convention of The Episcopal Church:
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Sam Candlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18366558046757964328noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4926577730849999011.post-61694834466294331952017-04-14T09:26:00.000-04:002017-04-14T09:26:16.254-04:00THE CROSS IS WHERE LOVE WALKS THROUGH DEATH
14 April 2017
Good Friday
It’s about walking. It’s still about walking.
On Palm Sunday, the walking began in glory, with bright sun
warming the labyrinth ground. It felt good to greet the refreshing morning. We
walked with energy and hope.
For me, the day seemed just like the previous morning, a
Saturday, when I had walked to the Cathedral Farmer’s Market, and greeted hot
coffee, Sam Candlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18366558046757964328noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4926577730849999011.post-19676018037358572172017-04-14T06:14:00.000-04:002017-04-14T06:14:55.276-04:00IT'S ABOUT WALKING
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span.s1 {Sam Candlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18366558046757964328noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4926577730849999011.post-14081166964046981292016-11-13T14:35:00.000-05:002016-11-13T14:35:10.153-05:00THERE IS A CRACK IN EVERYTHING
(The sermon from Sam G. Candler on 13 November 2016)
In scripture, we hear the hopeful words of Isaiah repeated
forever: “I am about to create new heavens and a new earth” and “Behold, I am
about to do a new thing. From Psalm 98, we hear, “Sing to the Lord a new song.”
And from Saint Paul, we hear, “If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation:
everything old has passed away; see, Sam Candlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18366558046757964328noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4926577730849999011.post-44094129847834400072016-11-09T13:52:00.001-05:002016-11-09T13:52:43.898-05:00FEELINGS IN OUR COUNTRY
I was twenty-two years old when I presented myself, eager
and earnest, to become a priest in The Episcopal Church. In those days, the
pre-seminary discernment period lasted a full year and a half, and it was
highly therapeutic. Over and over again, my supervisors implored me to get in touch with my feelings.
“What are you feeling?” they asked. “How do you feel?” As someone who Sam Candlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18366558046757964328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4926577730849999011.post-56047327028651088982016-09-12T17:02:00.000-04:002016-09-12T17:02:12.207-04:00WHAT A BUNCH OF LOSERS!
“Which one of you,
having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine
in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? … Or
what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a
lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?” (Luke 15:4, 8)
What a bunch of losers.
Do any of you remember the 2006 Sam Candlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18366558046757964328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4926577730849999011.post-41026842620033529922016-07-04T16:19:00.002-04:002016-07-04T16:19:55.772-04:00BLESSINGS! BLESSINGS! BLESSINGS!
(An Invocation delivered by the Very Reverend Samuel G. Candler, Dean of the Cathedral of St.
Philip, for the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, Georgia, 4 July 2016)
Blessings, Blessings,
Blessings! From all over America, from all over the world, we gather this day
for the blessings of running and rejoicing.
Most of us are runners, but some
of us are not. Some of us are believers in Sam Candlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18366558046757964328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4926577730849999011.post-47557452135203894252016-04-07T19:54:00.000-04:002016-04-07T19:54:31.744-04:00MARY MAGDALENE AND THE RISEN CHRIST
My Easter continues whenever I discover new expressions of
the encounter of Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb of Jesus. Most of you know the
story of how she visited the empty tomb and wept, because the body of Jesus was
not there. Standing there, however, was a man who looked like the gardener; and
she asked him whether or not he had taken away the body of Jesus. When the man
said, simply, “MarySam Candlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18366558046757964328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4926577730849999011.post-21084862273170609572016-03-30T08:45:00.000-04:002016-04-07T15:07:00.419-04:00THE TOMB IS A TUNNEL !
THE TOMB IS A TUNNEL !
27 March 2016 -- Easter Sunday
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
The Lord is risen indeed!
Have any of you ever been in a tunnel?
Two weeks ago, I was trekking through several tunnels. I was
with a group of you, fifteen Cathedral parishioners, on a spiritual pilgrimage
to Israel and Jerusalem. A special feature of this year’s pilgrimage was
tunnels. We walked in aSam Candlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18366558046757964328noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4926577730849999011.post-87496251730938543152016-02-10T14:23:00.001-05:002016-02-10T14:23:42.998-05:00ASH ON OUR FOREHEADS AND ON OUR FEET
Last weekend, on the Saturday before Lent, I was quite cold.
I was down in the beautiful winter woods of middle Georgia where I grew up. I
was also in the pastures there, on our old farm, helping my brother. Over the
past year, those rolling pastures have grown up with things we don’t like.
There are briars and small sweet gum trees. Oh, my Lord! The bane of sweet gum
trees in the South!
Sam Candlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18366558046757964328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4926577730849999011.post-86421865073546665042016-01-15T14:18:00.000-05:002016-01-15T14:18:28.425-05:00DO NOT FEAR! THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH IS NOT SUSPENDED AND WE ARE NOT HIERARCHICAL!
Do not fear! Apparently, the various primates of the Anglican
Communion of Churches, meeting in Canterbury this past week (January 2016),
voted on a statement which considers “how we may preserve our unity in Christ
given the ongoing deep differences that exist among us concerning our
understanding of marriage.” An 8-point resolution followed, apparently supported
by a majority of the 38 Sam Candlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18366558046757964328noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4926577730849999011.post-88660266079951045912016-01-07T10:12:00.002-05:002016-01-07T10:12:57.562-05:00SAND DOLLARS AND STARS
It's been almost a hundred years since the sand dollar looked like a dollar. Our dollars have turned from gold to silver, and from round discs to sheets of paper. Now, our dollars are figures on a check, or digits on a credit card, or maybe just a swipe of our smartphone.
But the "sand dollar" name persists. It is the name of a lovely shell, a skeleton, really, along the Atlantic coast, Sam Candlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18366558046757964328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4926577730849999011.post-72956377136275395412015-12-25T08:12:00.000-05:002015-12-25T08:12:24.251-05:00CHRISTMAS AND THE SOUL LIST OF GOD
“In those days a
decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This
was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.
All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also ….went to be
registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a
child.” (Luke 2:1–5)
Do you have your list with you? I'veSam Candlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18366558046757964328noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4926577730849999011.post-32459239538704628762015-11-18T15:12:00.000-05:002015-11-18T15:12:20.186-05:00IT'S THANKSGIVING -- AND PARIS WAS MASSACRED
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Sam Candlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18366558046757964328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4926577730849999011.post-49844159900674730102015-10-01T11:43:00.000-04:002015-10-01T11:44:04.989-04:00PURITY INSISTENCE AND EMPIRE ARROGANCE: ALL OR NOTHING?
John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your
name,
and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.”
But Jesus said, “Do not stop him;…whoever is not against us is for us. (Mark
9:38–40)
Whoever is not against us is for us!
This morning, and this past week, I am reminded of one of
the great stories of our Bible, from the Book of Numbers – a powerful Sam Candlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18366558046757964328noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4926577730849999011.post-80945665366809587722015-04-03T09:38:00.000-04:002015-04-03T09:38:20.295-04:00WHY THE CROSS ?
Good Friday
3 April 2015
Why do we carry these crosses everywhere?
We wear them around our necks and on our arms. Some are made
of the most ordinary materials, and some are made of the most expensive. Some
are as simple as two plain lines. Others are ornate and complicated, with no
end to their beautiful variation. We lift crosses up into the air, and we
process in lines behind them. We Sam Candlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18366558046757964328noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4926577730849999011.post-28014147859479850912015-02-27T09:29:00.000-05:002015-02-27T09:29:42.513-05:00ON THE OBSERVANCE OF GEORGE HERBERT
This week (February 27), the Episcopal Church will observe
the feast of George Herbert, surely one of the finer poets in our tradition. Here
is but one example of his work:
THE AGONIE
Philosophers have measur’d mountains,
Fathom’d the depths of
seas, of states, and kings,
Walk’d with a staffe
to heav’n, and traced fountains:
 Sam Candlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18366558046757964328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4926577730849999011.post-66382109367174539952015-02-10T19:03:00.000-05:002015-02-10T19:03:27.290-05:00WITH WINGS LIKE EAGLES?
Those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)
I used to sing a little song set to that verse, and the song
ended, “Teach me Lord, Teach me Lord, to wait.” But waiting is one of the
hardest things we do! If given a choice, we would rather not wait at all. Sam Candlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18366558046757964328noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4926577730849999011.post-24087149951094068632014-12-22T07:03:00.000-05:002014-12-23T07:54:13.359-05:00LET IT BE
(a sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Advent - 21 December 2014)
The angel Gabriel came to Mary and said,
“Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you…Do not be afraid, Mary, for you
have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a
son, and you will name him Jesus. The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the
power of the Most High will overshadow you; Sam Candlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18366558046757964328noreply@blogger.com0