Jesus said, "Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin...... Mark 6: 4
Chapel Island Squam Lake, NH,
Greetings from the backwoods of New Hampshire where I am vacationing with my family.
They are a loving lot, though not exactly sure what to do with the one Episcopalian in their midst -- and a priest to boot. Yesterday my agnostic sister sailed me over to Chapel Island in the middle of Squam Lake to see the 125 y.o. outdoor (Episcopal) chapel there. She thought I'd like it. I did. Tall whispering pines, a font made from a slab of granite with a depression in the center; rainwater collects there. The cross is made from local birch trees and the altar and pulpit are also slabs of granite. Holy ground.
"Do you ever come here to worship," I asked?
Uncomfortable silence.
Such is the tenuous relationship Jesus has with the people of his hometown.
He is able, the text tells us to do a couple of healings, but nothing much more.
At dinner last night, a couple who I did not know approached me, saying they had heard I was an Episcopal minister. What followed was a conversation of deep blessing and sharing. "How did you know I was a Episcopal priest?" I finally asked.
"Your brother told us," they said.
Perhaps it is enough.
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