Fr Robert Hendrickson

Dear Friends in Christ,

I’m thankful this week for two small acts of love. The first was for the discovery of two small kittens (pictures below) that someone left in the church dumpster. Danny found them (many of you will know him from the parish breakfasts) and let Ayden know about them. Ayden brought them over to the office and set them up with a blanket and a box. Bonnie Winn dropped by the office and heard about them and ran to the store to get them some kitten formula. Shelby, our new bookkeeper, filled up two small kitten bottles and bottle fed them.

Everyone was checking on them and folks have wanted to know how they’re doing. I marveled at how quickly people just sprang into action. These two little things had been discarded and the Church scooped them up and fed them, housed them, and have given them a place to be loved.

As soon as the boys saw them, that was it! So now the kittens have playmates whose energy matches their own. And we have two new kittens after our other two cats had both passed away. Perhaps not a coincidence — these kittens showed up on the same date that, two years ago, that our last cat died.

The other act of love was different. A bunch of parishioners showed up on Saturday morning to pull weeds and rake and hack down unruly stuff in the parking lot. It was a mix of long time and new parishioners, young and old alike. Water was passed out along with lemon squares and folks dug in and got to work cleaning and gardening. It was a lovely thing tending the space together.

As we mark Saint Philip’s Day today, it really is just marking the countless thousands of such acts of love that have brought us to this day. We mark life together in a community that springs to action to give rest to so many, hope to so many more, and is and shall always be a place of faithful care and loving beauty.

Yours in Christ,

Fr Robert