Coming Home: Entertaining Angels
"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it." - Hebrews 13:2
Dear St. John's Family,
It is a delight to be home again among you after a great month away in New Hampshire. Our brothers and sisters at Emmanuel Church, Dublin, my other parish home, send you their warmest greetings.
I returned to so many gifts of warmth and love and I thank you for all of them. But, in addition, I was welcomed by the presence of an unexpected and very unusual guest- a Roseate Spoonbill.
Roseate Spoonbills are wading birds common to Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and the Southeast. Called by the Audubon society "gorgeous at a distance and bizarre up close" our new resident has been making their home on St. John's Pond for at least 2 weeks and has brought to the church innumerable birders and nature photographers. Our spoonbill, alternatively called Rosie or Spoony, has been a blessing - a message from above of generosity, love, and hospitality. By all accounts, it should not be here, and yet, unexpectedly, it is - a messenger of God's incredible, creative, bizarre, and beautiful grace.
I invite you to think about your days in the recent week and ask yourself, where has God been sending you messages of love and generosity and opportunities for unexpected hospitality? What a gift the creation is! It continually teaches us about the generous provision and abundance of God's grace.
Faitfully yours,
Gideon
Photo courtesy of Fred Kopf and is taken at St. John's Pond. For more photos please follow this link.
Photos from our summer visitor, 2021. Roseate Spoonbill
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